Frankie's First Love
by xStreetCornerSymphonyx
Summary: Frankie fell in love before the outbreak, but after everything, Anna, refuses to change, and goes into hiding with the rest of the humans. When he finally meets her again, can he turn her in, or will he protect her from becoming a vampire's snack?
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was two years before the horrific plague's outbreak. Two years before everyone I knew would become bloodsuckers. The world would change into a dark, disgusting place. Filled with people who only needed and wanted one thing: human blood.

I met him at a club in New York City. My friends and I had a hard week at our office, and just wanted to hang out, let it all loose and have some real fun for once. He was doing the same. Just having a few drinks with his friends, catcalling at the ladies in the club, and getting as drunk as they possibly could.

"Hey Anna," my friend slurred, barely able to stand straight from all of the alcohol she was drinking. "Go get us some more beer," she said, giggling uncontrollably, even though nothing funny happened.

"Laura, I think you've had enough," I replied, rolling my eyes as she stumbled and had to hold onto our table to keep from falling.

"Oh c'mon. Can't we just have fun for one night? God, I think you're the only one here who isn't drunk out of their mind!" she giggled again, but stopped abruptly when a hiccup escaped her throat, which made her giggle even more.

"Laura, why don't you sit down?" I suggested, watching her pathetically try to dance to the beat of Bad Romance by the Lady Gaga. Amazingly, this song was still on the radio occasionally for its popular beat that everyone seemed to adore.

Just at that moment, my two other friends jogged over to us from the dance floor and took their seats at our tables for a quick break. Breathing heavily, they tried to tell me about how they were grinding extremely hot guys. I rolled my eyes. Honestly, I couldn't care less about who they were dancing with.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't all about responsibility. I knew how to have fun, and usually I was the life of the party. But tonight, we decided to drive, rather than catch a cab, and I had to stay sober so I could drive them all home. I was the only one here with self-control.

"Anna, go get us more beers!" Laura repeated, still swaying wildly and off beat to I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. I rolled my eyes and obliged, walking over to the bar, and raising a hand to the bartender so he would come to get my order.

"I'll take four beers," I said to him. I ordered one for myself as well. What harm could one beer do anyway? Even though I wasn't planning on getting as smashed as Laura, she was right. I needed to loosen up and have some fun tonight.

The bartender nodded, and I sat down on the stool knowing it would take about 5 minutes for him to get them to me; it was extremely busy tonight. I even felt claustrophobic sitting there, with tremendously drunk men and women crowding around me dancing, or asking for drinks themselves.

The bartender came back surprisingly, about two minutes after I ordered. With four beers in his hand, he set them down on the table and said, "That'll be $16.57."

I was about to hand him the money, when a voice next to me said, "I'll take that," and handed the bartender a $20 bill to cover my drinks. I turned to my right to see a man, probably about 23 years old, with a short haircut and a pair of jeans and a t-shirt on. He was cute.

"You don't have to," I protested, even though I knew the bartender already took the money and put it in the register.

"Yeah, I know," he said, taking his change from the bartender and putting the loose change in his front pocket.

"Thanks," I replied, giving him a small smile.

"So, I can't imagine your drinking all of those by yourself," he remarked, eyeing me curiously.

It was times like this I just wanted to pause time, get a mirror, and make sure I looked good. I could feel my dark brown curls resting lightly on my shoulders and the last time I went to the bathroom, my makeup was still perfectly intact, so I hoped there was nothing to worry about, but still the haunting thought of an imperfection anywhere irritated me. I didn't want to turn him off at all.

"No," I said, giving a small laugh. "I'm with some friends," I explained, my gaze resting on Laura, Stephanie, and Karen all sitting at the table, their faces beat-red from laughing hard at something that probably wasn't even that funny at all

"They look wasted," he stated, furrowing his eyebrows like they were from some other planet.

"They are."

He turned his gaze back to me and smiled. He had a great smile too. It was charming and friendly, which made my heart feel like it was melting. "I'm Frankie," he introduced, holding out his hand for a handshake.

"Anna," I replied, taking his hand and giving him a small smile back.

"So Anna," he said, cocking his head to the side and giving me a flirty smile this time. "What do you say we ditch this place and go find somewhere cooler to hang out at?"

I stared in surprise. I never thought he would ask me that. Usually, if a guy asks a girl something at a club, it either has to do with going dancing, or sex. I couldn't tell if this was about sex or not, but he seemed decent, and somehow I felt like he was just being sincere, and he honestly wanted to take me to somewhere "cooler" where we could hang out together. And I liked the idea of hanging out with him more. Although I had just met him, I trusted him, so as he waited eagerly for an answer, I gave him the same flirty smile and replied, "What did you have in mind?"

And as I watched him breathe a sigh of relief and start to reply, I realized that the speakers of the club blared at that moment: "I gotta feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night…" Which made me smile even bigger.

**A/N: Hey! So I just saw Daybreakers over the weekend and I fell in absolute LOVE with Frankie. So I decided to write a fanfic about him and make up a past life with him and it will eventually lead into the story line too. And I think that the next chapter will be the prologue continued because it was too much to put all in one. So, please review! :D**


	2. Prologue: Part Two

Prologue (Continued)

After I had pleaded with my friends that they would leave right away, so that I could take them home, they finally agreed, and I was able to race them home, and then go back to the club to meet Frankie at the front of the club. He had a good vibe. One of those vibes that you could just tell he was a good person. And he was incredibly well-mannered too. He held the door open for me on the way out from the club, and offered me his coat when we realized it was colder than we thought outside on the chilly streets of New York City.

"So, you never did tell me where we were going," I reminded him.

"You'll see," he replied, giving me his cute smile again. I rolled my eyes and watched as tons of couples walked by us, hand in hand, beaming faces, and the occasional kiss on the cheek as they walked slowly by us, taking in every moment of this beautiful evening.

I uttered a small shout when I felt someone's hand clasp around mine, and saw Frankie's usual gleaming face smiling at me when I realized it was his hand. "Might as well fit in," he said shrugging flirtatiously. I smiled and shook my head at him playfully.

I couldn't believe it. I had just met Frankie, and yet I felt like I'd known him for years. I'd never felt this way about a guy, especially one I had just met.

"How old are you?" I asked. I'd been thinking about that all night. I could tell that he was in his early twenties, but I wasn't exactly sure.

"Twenty-three," he replied. "What about you?"

"Twenty-one."  
"Cool," he said. "We're almost here," he added, smiling again.

I took my attention off of Frankie and looked around at where "here" was. And then I realized that we were heading towards a group of buildings. I didn't really recognize them and they looked a little intimidating from the darkness of the night and just because they looked vacant. Plus, I didn't know what we were doing because, it was too late for anything to be open, so I was completely dumbfounded. I guess he sensed that too.

"So I'm guessing you still have no idea where we are, huh?" he said, chuckling at my confused expression.

"I have a feeling we're heading towards Central Park, but I'm not sure why," I admitted.

"You'll see." He smirked, mischievously.

A few moments later, we were right in front of these vacuous buildings, staring up into their dark windows, and chilling darkness. The doors were large, and rusty, and I wasn't sure they were even unlocked, which was very strange.

"C'mon," he said, pulling me away from the front doors and to another small doorway on the side of the building, but was marked by another rusty sign that stated "No Trespassing". I watched with wide eyes as Frankie walked up to the door, pulled out a corroded nail, and picked the lock with ease, and then opened the door quietly, walked indoors a step, scanned the surroundings, and then turned back to me, holding out his hand, clearly asking me to sneak into the eerie vacant buildings as well.

"Uh…" I muttered, guiltily glancing around to make sure no one was looking.

"Don't worry, I do this all the time," he reassured. I wondered what a 23 year old man was doing sneaking into old buildings at night…

Against my better judgment, I reluctantly took my time walking up the cracked stairs, with weeds pulling through them, and then stepped into the building, grabbing Frankie's hand and holding on tighter than I planned out of a strange fear building up in my chest.

"C'mon," he said, grabbing my hand, pulling me deeper into the building. Luckily, large windows were all around the walls, and a faint light from the moon came through, allowing a tiny bit of light so at least I could make my way around without bumping into things.

"Why are we here? And why aren't we trying to be quiet? They might have security, you know," I told him.

"Yeah, they do. It's an abandoned building, but they want to make sure no one steals anything. And I'm not here to steal anything. Plus, the head security guard happens to be my best friend," he said. "He covers for me all the time."

"And how does he do that?"

"Well, he erases the tapes the security cameras record."

"So why didn't we just have him open the front door for us?" I demanded, thinking about how he picked the lock like a thief, and how nervous I felt when we walked in.

"Because this way, its more fun," he said, smiling again. "And I guess I should tell you my secret plans… since we're here and all," he added sighing like he really didn't want to tell me why we were here.

"I'm listening."

"So, when I was younger, let's just say I went through some tough things, so I would come here, because this used to be an apartment building, but after a huge fire, they closed it down. But before the fire, my best friend used to live there and we would hang here a lot," he paused, and swallowed. "He died in the fire."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, feeling extremely sad for him.

"It's okay. But anyway, after they closed the building, I used to sneak in here and just hang out here. It was a place to think," he admitted, refusing to look at me. I smiled at him anyway, and stayed silent. Mostly, because I didn't know what to say.

"Come on," he said, pulling me closer to him, leading me up four flights of stairs before he finally stopped in front of another door, which a sign that declared "Rooftop".

He pulled on the latch, and opened the door. A cool breeze immediately cooled my face. He stepped to the side and nodded saying "ladies first," with a cute smirk. I smiled, replying with a simple "thank you." He took my hand again, and together we walked to the edge of the rooftop, and looked over at the skyline of New York City. It was absolutely breathtaking. I even gasped, and watched the lighted buildings shine vibrantly, and the Empire State Building, which looked magical and beautiful from our view.

"Wow," I muttered, walking closer to the edge and leaning my hands against the railings, narrowing my eyes and taking in every detail of the night.

"Amazing, huh?" Frankie whispered, not letting go of my hand, but instead, squeezing it tighter.

And it truly was amazing. As I stood here, watching the lights flicker and the buildings shine in the dark skies. I'd never seen New York from the view, and I was very excited to be able to experience it. It was utterly magnificent.

I felt a tug on my hand and turned to see Frankie going to sit down on a bench behind us, and I quickly followed. We sat down next to each other and quietly watched the illumination that the buildings provided the atmosphere of this amazing city.

"I like it up here," Frankie stated, never taking his eyes away from the amazing sight in front of us. "Sometimes, I come here, just to think. He makes me feel… peaceful."

I couldn't believe how honest he was being. He didn't seem like the kind of guy that would spill his feelings to anyone, especially a girl he just met. But I wanted to hear more. So I squeezed his hand and let him continue.

"My friend, he was like my brother. And sometimes I wished he was. I do have a brother. His name is Edward, but I never really got along with him. But anyway, Jeff and I grew up together, from toddlers to teens. And he helped me and I'd like to think I helped him too. But when the fire started, it was right next to his door, and he couldn't make it out. And by the time the firefighters came, he was dead," Frankie admitted.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know if I _could _say something. I figured he just needed to talk, and I was willing to listen.

"I'm sorry," he looked away from the view, and looked at me again. "I don't know… It's just that when I was little, everything was terrible. Edward, well, let's just say that _everybody_ loves him. And it got annoying. He was extremely smart, handsome, mature, and everything about him was just good. And then there's me. His rebel little brother that could do nothing right. The straight "D" student. The troublemaker… that's me. And it's still like that. Edward has a stable job, a college degree… the list goes on. And I'm still the same old boy that I used to be. So, I come here. To relax and get away from it." He stopped talking and looked at the view again.

"You don't seem like a bad person," I said awkwardly, not really sure what else to say.

He smiled. "That's because you don't know me too well."

"Well, I mean you did sneak me into a abandoned building. I just can't _imagine_ all of the other badass things you've done," I smiled back at him. He laughed, and punched my arm lightly and playfully.

We talked for what seemed like hours. All about our lives, family, friends, everything. I told him about my sisters. Diane, who died two years ago from breast cancer, and Michelle, who was a stay-at-home mom of two beautiful children named Nick and Sharon.

"I like you Anna…?"

"Smith."

"Anna Smith. I like you."

"I like you too, Frankie…?"

"Dalton."

"Frankie Dalton. I like you too."

He smirked and then gently pulled me into a kiss. And at that moment, I knew that even though I had only known him for a few hours, I was in love with Frankie Dalton.

**A/N: So I know that Frankie was a little out of character in this, but you never know what he was like before the outbreak and stuff. I figured we could look into Frankie's life a little more before he became a vampire. And sorry it took me a little bit longer to post this… I wrote it a while ago but decided to take a different approach so I had to change it completely. So yeah, thanks for reading, and please reviewww! =]**

**PS: thanks to all of the people that reviewed last chapter! It means a lot(:**


	3. Chapter One

Chapter One

I twirled the ring around my finger anxiously. It sparkled, even in the dim light. I took it off and gripped it in my warm hands. I hadn't heard from him since three days ago… and it wasn't like him to not call me, even if he was away on business.

Through my racing mind, I could hear voices coming from our TV, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I picked up my cell phone that lay silently on the coffee table. I checked the front screen. No new messages. No missed calls. No nothing. I set my phone down and closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, rubbing them slightly to calm my racing heart.

I picked up my phone again. With trembling fingers, I typed 'Frankie' into the search box, and then pressed call. I heard the number dial, and the phone rang once… twice… and eventually made it to six times before his familiar voice came through the phone. "Hey its Frankie, I'm not here right now, leave a message."

I closed my eyes even tighter and felt tears build up in my ice blue eyes. I wasn't worried about him, I knew he could handle himself, but I was worried about the plague. The plague that was consuming our country. Our world. And I was scared, because it changed you. Your appearance, your reactions, and it changed you. The person you were on the inside.

I forced myself to open my eyes and dialed Edward's number. Frankie's brother. I wanted to share my concerns with him, but I knew he was already worried, and I just wanted to see if he'd heard from my fiancé.

"Anna? Did you hear from Frankie?" he asked, as soon as he answered the phone. I could hear the worry in his voice.

"No… Edward, I'm so scared. Why isn't he answering?" I asked, my voice starting to shake.

"Don't worry Anna. He'll be fine. Hold on, I'm coming over."

"Okay, thanks," I replied, before hanging up. If there was one person I trusted just as much as Frankie, it was Edward. And I was glad he was coming. I needed someone to talk to, to keep my mind occupied.

I sat staring blankly at the TV for about fifteen minutes before I heard it. Our front door opened. Figuring it was Edward, I shouted, "I'm in here."

No reply. I heard footsteps, but they were slow, like they were trying to sneak up on me. I held my breath, and slowly turned my head.

"Edward?" I couldn't make out the shadowy figure hiding in the dark. My heart beats quickened, as I slowly walked towards the light switch, and turned it on.

"Frankie!" I shouted, running towards him and wrapping my arms around his neck happily. "Where were you? Why didn't you answer my calls? I missed you!" the words escaped my mouth quickly, but even after I said them, I received no reply. He felt cold. Too cold. Slowly, I released him, taking a step back to look at him.

I almost fainted. He was gone. This wasn't my Frankie, this was… someone else. A stranger. His usual tan, warm, skin was replaced with ghostly pale, ice-cold skin, and his eyes were no longer the deep chocolate brown eyes I stared into every night before I went to sleep, but were a golden-brown color. They stared at me, and left me with a cold feeling—almost as cold as his skin.

"Anna," he whispered softly, his eyes scanning the room around us. "I missed you so much."

"Frankie…" I muttered, feeling my throat tighten uncomfortably.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." He took a step closer. I took a step back.

"Get back," I said firmly. He smiled, showing off his new tooth-job as well. My heart skipped a beat, and a took another step back.

"Why are you scared of me?" He asked, that same chilling smile planted securely on his face.

"What happened to you?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"I had to. For my job," he replied, the smile melting away.

"I…" I didn't know what to say. I was at a loss for words. I prayed that any second, Edward would burst through the door, and help me somehow.

"I love you. And I want you to be mine forever," he said, taking two steps forward. I moved back about half a step, but then realized I was against the wall. Terrified, I pressed myself as far as I could and closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them, my same loving Frankie was there in front of me, but I knew this wasn't a nightmare. This was real.

"I love you too," I whispered, staring at the floor instead of him.

"Do you want to be mine forever?" he asked, stepping forward once again, until he was no more than six inches away from me.

"Yes, of course, but not like this!" I protested, knowing what was coming.

"It won't hurt," he promised.

"I can't. Please go away." I felt tears dropping from my eyes as if there was a hurricane in them. I couldn't control it anymore. I was terrified, confused, and angry all at once.

"Anna please," he said, walking closer until his face was almost touching mine. I started to turn to move away, but he pressed his hand against the wall next to me, and it was too strong to move. I shook my head and pleaded him to stop.

"Please don't do this Frankie," I muttered, feeling his cold breath against my fragile neck.

"It won't hurt," he repeated, opening his mouth. I expected to feel the sharp pain as his fangs pierced my skin, but he puckered his lips and kissed me instead.

"Stop!" I shouted, pushing on his chest in anger. He laughed, and didn't budge. Instead, he pressed his lips to mine, full force, and kissed me. I struggled to get away, but he wouldn't let me go. He wasn't letting me breathe.

"Anna?" my eyes opened wide when I heard Edward's familiar voice come from the front door. "The front door was open… is everything okay?" he was walking toward us.

Frankie didn't seem too pleased to see him. Definitely not as pleased as I was. I broke away from his strong hold, and ran over to Edward, who was just walking into the light of the family room.

"Frankie?" he asked, as I cowardly stood behind him, thankful that he was here to talk some sense into his disease-ridden brother.

"Edward. It's not safe for you. You need to change. Just like everyone else," Frankie muttered, his eyes frantically searching the room for something I didn't know.

"What are you talking about? This is a plague, you can't choose to become it. It's a virus," Edward explained.

"Your wrong. We can change each other. I can change you. Both of you." His words made me shiver. "If you don't change, they'll find you. And they'll kill you," he said, his voice starting to tremble.

"Frankie, think this through, you don't even know what's going to happen. We could find a cure for this!" Edward protested.

"No. There is no cure. And there never will be." He turned his attention back on me. "Anna, please, you need to come with me."

"No," I whispered, feeling more tears fall from my cheek.

Instead of replying, Frankie started to growl. A mean deep growl that made both Edward and I take a step back. His nose twitched when he looked at both of us, and he closed his eyes. "Do you know the best part of all this?" he asked, that chilling smile once again forming on his face. "You don't even need water anymore… just… blood," he continued, letting out a small laugh.

Edward and I didn't move. Edward seemed focused on his little brother, and surprised me when he whispered, "run", to me.

At first I didn't move. I was too scared, and my knees were locked in place. But then I saw the frenzy, and evil in Frankie's eyes, that once again sent chills down my spine. My eyes darted towards the garage door. If I could reach the door, get into the garage, and get my car, I could make it out. I spent about five more seconds contemplating this, until I realized I had no choice. I couldn't become this monster that my fiancé was. I closed my eyes, bit my lip, took one last glance at the man I fell in love with just two years ago, and ran.

Frankie seemed to know exactly where I was headed. He started to run right after me, but Edward, managed to hold him back for a few seconds while I unlocked the door. "Run Anna!" he shouted. I grabbed my purse quickly off the counter, and looked one last time as Frankie opened his mouth, and forced it against Edward's neck. I let out a sob, but turned away, and ran out the door.

Luckily, I had left my car unlocked the night before, so getting in was an easy job. I locked the car doors and started the engine. Opening the garage, I began pulling out, but jumped when I heard a loud thud on the hood of the car. I turned back around to see Frankie, his mouth dripping with his own brother's blood, smiling at me through the windshield. I floored the gas, and the car hurled out of the garage, knocking Frankie off onto the grass. Pulling away from the house, I drove far away from our neighborhood, look once more into the rearview mirror, where I saw Frankie standing in the middle of the road, covered in blood, with that same chilling smile planted on his face.

**A/N: And here is chapter one! Please read and review =]!**


	4. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

I didn't know where I was going. So I just drove. I drove for miles. I drove until I was out of the state, and headed towards another. I drove all night, until I got so tired, that I had to stop at a hotel. I pulled out the wallet in my purse and paid the man $50 for one night at his crappy inn that he called a "bed and breakfast". Shutting the door, I made sure all of the locks were locked, and I sat down on the bed, turned on the TV for noise and comfort, and pulled out my phone.

_Six new messages._

_Frankie. Frankie. Frankie. Frankie. Edward. Edward._

Frankie called four times; Edward two. Although I wished there were no new messages, so that I wouldn't have to deal with either of them tonight, I was happy that Edward called, so that I knew he was well enough to be able to call me.

So, I took a deep breath, dialed in Edward's number and pressed 'go'. Every ring was like a death sentence, and as each one slowly passed, my heart beat got faster and faster, until I thought it was ready to pop out of my burning chest. I closed my eyes and silently prayed he would pick up the phone. It was four o'clock in the morning now. And I was scared out of my mind.

"Hello?" a very familiar and comforting voice answered the phone, even though it was hustled, and was full of fear.

"Edward?"

"Anna? Is that you? Where are you?" he demanded.

"New Jersey," I replied, not ready to give up my exact location just yet.

"He's not with me," Edward whispered, sensing my concerns. "He went looking after you."

I closed my eyes tighter and shook my head. If he found me, he'd change me. And I didn't want that.

"He won't find me," I replied, trying to reassure myself, as well as Edward.

"Anna… they're all over the place. They're vampires. Do you have a TV?" he asked.

"Yeah. And what do you mean by vampires? And are you okay? What happened? Did he change you??" I asked, utterly confused about everything.

"Turn on channel 3."

I bit my lip, knowing that Edward had been changed, and flipped to the news on my TV. Images of these perfect, creatures flooded the screen. Golden eyes, pale skin, and large fangs offered fear and hope to people everywhere. A women came on the screen that had been battling cancer, but once she became infected, the cancer receded and now she was perfectly healthy again. But then there was their need to feed. The thing that kept them going wasn't pure natural water, or anything like that. Instead, their main food source was in fact, as Frankie had told me, blood. I shuddered as they showed a clip of a newly infected being attack a human on the sidewalk, although the picture flipped to another segment quickly, as the vampire began to feed on her innocent body.

I felt my breathing get heavy, and my heart rate quickened once again as I struggled to understand everything that was happening. Humans were no longer at the top of the food chain, these things, these 'vampires' were. And somehow I didn't think they were quite as charming as Stephanie Meyers made them out to be. These vampires were no Edward Cullen.

"Oh my God…" I muttered into the phone that I was barely holding on to. I felt like fainting. This couldn't be happening.

"Where do you think you'll go?" Edward whispered, knowing that I'd made up my mind, and I would not be coming back to him, or the love of my life.

"I'll start at my sister's… To see if she's still human. And then…" I paused. "I have no idea."

"It's spreading like wildfire. I'd say, go to your sister's and then get out of the country, if you can. I understand how you feel, Anna. If I had a choice, I'd be running with you right now. Most people are thinking of this as a blessing, but nothing good will come out of this. I can tell."

"I know. I can't believe this though. Why would Frankie have to change? Why would he have to change for his job? It's just not fair!" I whined into the phone, feeling tears start to drip down my cheeks slowly again.

"I know Anna, I know. I'll help him understand. Call me okay? Any chance that you get. Just so that I know you're safe," he whispered again, his voice shaking slightly.

"I will. But, can you do something for me?" I asked, my voice trembling as well.

"Anything," he responded.

"Will you tell him that I love him?"

* * *

I woke up the next morning at 6:00AM on the dot. I had set the alarm, and though I had only slept for about 2 hours, I felt energized. Maybe it was because I knew I had to get to safety, or maybe it was because Edward had told me Frankie was looking for me. And I didn't want him to find me.

After I checked out of the hotel, I got in my car and first drove to a grocery store. My sister lived in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, which was about a 10 hour drive from Morristown New Jersey, which was where I was currently at. If I left at exactly 6 in the morning, I'd be there at about 5, with stops, so I knew I'd have to get snacks for the drive if I wanted to get there as early as possible.

I had five missed calls in the morning. One from Edward, and three from Frankie, and one from my own mother. I found that odd, since I hadn't talked to my mother in years. I knew she was probably worried, which made me feel bad that I didn't have time to call her back, at least until I made it to Michelle's house.

I spent less than thirty minutes at the grocery store, picking up small items I could snack on throughout the day. Granola bars, apples, water bottles, and even a bag of Goldfish. As I walked out the doors, I kept my head down, wearing a baseball cap to cover my eyes. Although it was confirmed that the vampires could smell human blood, I thought it would give me some coverage and might keep me safer than someone who acted scared constantly and wore open clothing, showing their tan skin, non-fanged teeth, and their normal colored eyes. And even though it was summer, I wore a heavy black sweatshirt, jeans, and boots, although making it seem as subtle as possible.

Back in my car, I got prepared for my 10 hour journey. I put my Bluetooth in my ear, and dialed my sister's number, just to see if she'd even answer. Sure enough, she answered after three rings, her voice panicked, and swollen with fear.

"Anna? Anna is that you?"

"Yes, Michelle, it's me. Are you okay? Are the kids safe?" I asked, letting out a sigh of relief that even though she sounded scared, she was okay,

"Yes, yes, we're all fine. Where are you? Are you with Frankie?" she asked. The last question sent a stake through my heart.

"No. I'll explain when I get there."

"Is he okay? He's not one of… them, is he?" she asked.

"Yeah Michelle. But listen, I'm on my way from Jersey. I'll be there by about five, okay?" I heard Michelle gasp when I told her about Frankie, and then start whispering "Oh my God!" over and over again. "Listen to me, Michelle! Stay indoors with the kids. Don't open the door for _any_one. Don't trust anyone, and don't leave the house. Okay?"

"Yes, of course. Just please hurry," she whispered, before hanging up.

I bit my lip. I struggled to hold in my tears, but they all came out, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. My vision blurred, and I could barely see when a foreign object jumped out in front of my car, and I had to pull to a screeching stop.

**Hey! So sorry its been so long since I updated… I've been extremely busy with school. But now I'm on Spring Break so hopefully I'll be updating quicker. So yeah, this chapter wasn't much, but I promise it'll get better, and Frankie will be in the story soon enough. I just needed to put a chapter that gave you an idea about where Anna was going and whatnot. Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	5. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The car came to a screeching holt, and I was just able to make out the thing that almost got himself killed when it ran out in front of my car. It was a dog. He looked like a mutt, with short jet black fur, and two cocked ears, and was one of the cutest dogs I've ever seen, at that.

Being a sucker for animals, I jumped out of my car and ran to the front, where the poor dog cowered, its tail between its legs, and its ears pulled back. I offered him the back of my hand to sniff, and he let me pat his head. Not wanting to leave him to be drained for certain by the vampires, I lured him into my car and set him in the backseat. He immediately lay down, his feet spread completely out, and his eyes closing slowly, his chest rising slowly and rhythmically, and it made me feel calmer. I was glad I was going to be able to help another being out. It made me feel good inside, despite everything that's happened.

I jumped when I felt my phone vibrate. Edward was calling.

"Hello?"

"Are you at your sister's yet?" he asked.

"No. I still have about 9 hours to go."

"Hurry," he said, before hanging up on me.

The franticness and panic in his voice made me shiver with fear. What if it was getting worse? And the fact that he didn't stay on the phone long told me that Frankie was with him. Or another vampire. So I continued driving, gripping the steering wheel forcefully, embedding my nails in the fresh leather. I knew it would be a long drive from there.

**OoOo OoOo**

I arrived at my sister's house at 5:27PM. I only stopped once, at a small grocery store. I bought two bags of dog food, a collar, leash, dog bed, and some food and water dishes. And went to the bathroom while I was there, to make the most out of the time.

My sister was an even bigger mess than I had originally imagined. She was so terrified, she paced around the room, bit her nails down to the core, and murmured to herself that we were all going to die. She wasn't doing good. And naturally, her children, who looked up to her, were even more scared because of how upset Michelle was. They did, however, enjoy having the dog around and even named him Maxx, after their father, who died 5 years ago from a heart attack.

Nick was 10 years old, and Sharon was 12. I couldn't imagine the way they felt, especially now, when they're world is falling apart, and they had no father to lean on for support. So, I knew I had to be calm. No matter how scared I was, no matter how much I wanted to give up, I knew I needed to stay calm for not only Sharon, Nick, and Michelle's sake, but for my own as well.

"I'm going to bed."  
"I turned around to see Michelle, standing in front of the stairwell, her eyes wary and tired, and her voice still shaking slightly. I stood up and hugged her. She broke down in my arms, her tears soaking the sleeve of my t-shirt.

"What's going to happen to us," she whispered in between sobs.

I didn't reply. Mostly because I didn't have the answer. I didn't know what would happen to us. Sure, this might pass over, and the cure would be found, and everything would be fine again, but that was extremely unlikely. From what I heard on the news, this "vampirism" was spreading across the entire country, and the entire world.

She stopped hugging me and crying, and looked into my eyes. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess. I was just so scared to begin with, but I knew you would come to help. But then when you told me Frankie was changed… I just didn't know what to think. Now we're just two women, protecting two young children… It would just be nice to know there was a man on our side. A man we could trust," she admitted, shivering and sniffling slightly.

"I know, Michelle. But we have to get through this. I'm still contacting Edward sometimes. He can help us," I replied.

"Has he been changed?" she asked, hope clouding the fear in her eyes.

"Frankie changed him," I replied softly. The hope faded from her eyes as quickly as it had come.

"Has Frankie tried to contact you?"

"Yes."

"Have you answered? Or said anything to him?" she asked, anxiously.

"No. I'm scared he can track my number or something… Not that I don't trust him… because I do. But that trust kind of died away when he tried to bite my neck yesterday."

She didn't reply. She switched her gaze from my blue eyes, to her family room floor. She shook her head slightly. "You need to call him," she said. "Maybe Edward has gotten some sense into him. Maybe that was just his initial reaction, maybe he can help us," she said, once again, her hopes getting higher with every positive thought that came to her mind.

"I'll try," I said, reaching into my pocket for my phone. And that's when I remembered that I still needed to call my mother, Edward, to tell him I was at my sister's house safely, and now Frankie. And so I even called them all in that order.

My mother was shocked to know what happened between Frankie and I. "A good husband would accept your decisions, and not try to force them upon you when you don't agree with him!" she exclaimed. I shook my head but didn't say anything. What could I say? I still loved him. But in a way, she was right. He should've given me time to think.

I talked to her for about a half hour. Filling her in on where I was currently at, and trying my hardest to keep her calm and told her not to worry. She said she wouldn't, but I knew it was just a natural response for parents to worry, especially when there's always the chance that the next day, your daughter wouldn't be your daughter anymore; just a blood-thirsty vampire.

Next I called Edward. He answered after just two rings, and sounded even more worried than my own mother.

"Anna? Anna where are you? Did you make it to your sisters?" he asked quickly.

"Yes, yes. I'm at her place now, and we're all safe. What's going on? Edward, where do we have to go to get away from all of this?" I asked, hoping and praying he'd tell me that we didn't need to go anywhere, because the cure was almost finished. He didn't answer my prayers.

"Hide. You have to leave your house. They'll find you. The news station tonight just announced that any human that refuses to turn, will be farmed for blood. They're setting up a huge corporation for it and everything. They've already caught some people, but now they're just going door to door. They predict that more than half the population of the entire world will be vampires by the end of the month. You don't have much time."

My heart skipped a beat. More than half the population? What about humans? They were just going to be used like machines, just to be farmed for humans? That wasn't right! I felt my heart beat quicken again, and my head started to turn. I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Where do you suggest we go?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm enough to be able to talk straight.

"Live on the roads for a few days. Pack pillows, clothing, and lots of food. Only stop for brief bathroom breaks. Do that until you find some place better to hide. I'll let you know if I find out anything else. I'm so sorry Anna. I can't believe this is happening either."

"Edward," I paused, and took a deep breath. "Is Frankie there?" I asked, trying, but failing, to suppress a chill that ran down my spine.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he replied, knowing exactly what I wanted.

"Please, I need to talk to him," I said. Michelle made sense in a way, when she told me I should call Frankie, but somehow, I think I wanted to talk to him for my own selfish needs. Just to hear his voice again, even if it was just for a brief moment, my heart would melt.

I heard Edward sigh on the other end. And my brain told me to say 'never mind' and hang up. But my heart kept my lips shut, and my brain finally shut up too, when a very familiar voice came on the other line, and whispered, "Anna."

"Frankie," I stuttered, wishing this would all end, and I could go back to him and sleep in his warm loving arms again.

"Where are you?" He demanded.

"I-I can't tell you," I replied, trying to hold back the tears that so desperately wanted to creep out of my eyes.

"Yes you can, Anna. I won't hurt you, I promise. I need to make sure your safe."

"And how do you plan to do that? By changing me?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"It's the only way Anna. If you don't change, you'll die. Why can't you just understand that?" he asked, the tone of his voice rising with his anger level.

"It's not that simple Frankie. This is my life were talking about! You change Frankie… This thing, this disease… It changes you! And I can't become that… I'm so sorry."

At first, I thought he had hung up on me. I couldn't even hear him breathe on the other end of the phone line. Just a silent call. A dead silence, that cut me to the core. I was about to hang up, when I finally heard him take a breath.

"Anna. They'll find you. And they will kill you."

"I'll hide. I won't let them find me."

"You can't hide Anna. You're not safe. And you never will be. I love you, Anna. But I can't help you if you don't tell me where you are."

My heart stopped. I missed him too much. I missed the way he told me that he loved me. And I missed his tan, flawless face, always smiling at me. I missed the way he would do anything to cheer me up, even if I felt like my world had completely fallen apart. I didn't want to loose him. I couldn't loose him. I was in complete, sickening, love with him.

"I—I…" I paused for a moment, thinking hard. "I… I can't Frankie. I can't tell you where I am. And I can't let you change me either. I'm so sorry. I love you so much." I started crying again.

I didn't hear him speak. The only sound I heard, was the click of the phone button when the line went dead. I cried even more. I had just lost the one person I truly loved. The one person that made me feel like the most amazing and special person on earth. And now, my world really was falling apart. But there was no one here to cheer me up. He was gone. And I had a feeling that if I ever saw him again, he wouldn't think twice about sending me to the farm, to be drained of all blood, so he could eat me for his afternoon snack.

**I hope you liked it. I wanted more Frankie action, and trust me, this is definitely NOT the last time we hear from our beloved beautiful Frankie in the story, and soon he'll actually show up face to face with Anna, but you'll just have to wait and see for that moment to come. But anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing, and I love you guys! **

**P.S.: I decided to update on my birthday… So now you **_**have**_** to review! I'm one year older today! Woot! : D**


	6. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"Audrey, can you come help me harvest the vegetables?"

She turned around, her dark brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. Her dark brown eyes stared into my light blue eyes, and she nodded, forcing a small smile.

"We're running out of tomatoes. And you know how Elvis gets when he doesn't have his tomatoes," I stated, crookedly smile at the memories we shared.

"I remember that. He got so mad, he wouldn't eat, and wasted a perfectly good salad. Just because he didn't have his silly little tomatoes." She chuckled slightly, as we walked into our greenhouse. About ten ripe tomatoes sat on the first table, the brightest red, and soft and juicy, just the way Elvis liked them. I knew he'd be happy; it wasn't often we were able to harvest juicy plump vegetables in our makeshift garden.

"Jack came back last night with a few more survivors. They were weak, and scared, but I think after some time they'll get it together and be a great part of the team," Audrey noted, trying her hardest to make conversation that didn't involve the bloodthirsty vampires that wanted so desperately to sink their teeth into our fragile skin.

"That's good. We need more people here. It's like people are getting scarcer and scarcer to find," I trailed off, knowing that everyone in the building with me could very well be the last humans on earth. I shuddered at the thought.

"We'll find help," Audrey reassured. Elvis wants us to find a vampire, someone we can trust. I mean, they can't _all_ agree with what's happening to humans. There's got to be at least one that actually has somewhat of a heart. Didn't you know someone? A vampire, that wanted to help you?" she asked.

"I haven't talked to him in years. I don't know what happened to him. For all I know, he could be the leader of the vampire army."

"Oh." She was disappointed. We all were. Even though the vampires needed our blood, we never thought they'd run us almost to extinction. And that was exactly what they were doing.

After I had collected some tomatoes, carrots, and bell peppers, I walked over to our small stereo and clicked 'play'. _Someday_ by Rob Thomas softly sounded from the speakers. I smiled and whispered the words along with the lyrics. Audrey joined in, and suddenly, we were back in 2010, singing like we were two teenagers at a karaoke bar not caring who or what heard us.

At the end of the song, we both cracked up. Not because something funny happened, but because we were actually having fun. And having fun wasn't really an option when you lived in a world infested by cannibalistic vampires.

After the vegetables were gathered, we went into the main room, where Elvis and some other people were standing around a small table, figuring where we'd find some more survivors, I guessed.

"Audrey, I want you Lauren, George, and Brian to go downtown tonight, take the car. There are some people trying to make connections with us. They live in a shed, right by town. Anna, you'll stay here and help me get in touch with more people."

We all nodded and Audrey and I split apart, Audrey going with her crew, while I stood beside Elvis, as he played around with our radio that barely even worked now.

"We need a new radio," Elvis commented, trying to find a clear station he could use to call other survivors.

"Really? You just figured that out?" I replied sarcastically. He smirked and continued to fiddle through the station.

"Audrey tells me you know a vamp. That could maybe help us."

"Well, Audrey doesn't know all of the details. It's not that simple as to calling him up after ten years and saying, "Hey you wanna help out a bunch of humans? Yeah the same humans you're supposed to kill and harvest for your dinner.""

"Did he chose to become a vampire?" Elvis asked.

"Well, no, but things change Elvis. I have no idea where he is, or what he thinks now."

"Well it can't hurt to try."

"I beg to differ. If he's not on our side, he could find out where we are, and then send us to the farm."

"Listen Audrey," Elvis turned around in his chair, staring at me intently. "Vampirism changes you, there's no doubt about that. But not everybody. And sometimes, it doesn't cut to the core. Maybe this person doesn't agree with them. Some vampires don't agree that what they're doing to the humans is right. If you know this person, he has to feel something. Sure, vampirism changes your diet, eye color, skin color, and hell, you can't even see yourself in a mirror, but it can't wipe away your memories. If you shared something with this man, or woman, they will always remember that, no matter how hard they don't want to remember. We need vamps we can trust. And if that means taking a risk, then so be it. We take a risk every single day, just by waking up in the morning."

It took me a few minutes to soak in everything that Elvis was telling me. I never thought about it like that. To be honest, I'd never really thought about it at all. My last phone call with either Frankie or Edward was years and years ago. I had no idea what had happened to either of them.

"I don't know Elvis… I mean, Edward didn't chose to change, my fiancé, Frankie, changed him. Edward pretty much sacrificed himself for me. But, he could've changed."

"Well, there's only one way to find out. Is there anyway you know how to contact him?" Elvis asked, glancing at a phone at the end of the table.

"Well, I don't think calling is the best idea. They could probably track it. But I remember where he used to live. Maybe we could start there?"

"Good, good. Get some sleep, kay? We'll go after him tomorrow," Elvis said, giving up on the extremely old radio and rubbing his temples in annoyance. "We _need_ to find a better radio. I can't take this one anymore," he muttered. I smiled and patted his shoulder with sympathy, and then started walking back to my room, which I shared with Audrey and Lauren, both of whom I thought of as sisters. They were my only good friends here.

I laid down on my bed and stared at a picture frame on the table next to me. Inside the frame, which had the word, 'love' imprinted on the bottom, was a picture of me and Frankie. He had gotten it for me for our one year anniversary, along with a box of chocolates, a rose, and a romantic dinner. And it was the first time I had told him I loved him, and truly meant it.

I shut my eyes and tried not to think, but there was just too much to think about. About five years ago, my sister had become delirious, constantly thinking there were vampires after her and her two children. She became paranoid, always muttering and whispering that 'they'd find her and kill her and her children.' I'd tried to talk sense into her, and tell her that she was safe, and no one was going to find her, but she wouldn't listen. Her mind was shot. So, one day, she went out and found a vampire that was willing to change her, Nick, and Sharon so that they'd be safe. I tried to change her mind, and tell her it wasn't the right thing to do, but she would have none of it. Michelle promised to keep the whereabouts of our little human sanctuary a secret, but the next day, she and her kids were gone. Leaving only a small note that said, 'I'm sorry', strapped to Maxx's collar. So now, as Maxx sat comfortably at the end of my bed, I realized that he was the only memory I had of my beautiful sister. I had burned the note. I was furious with her, and I couldn't stand to have it sitting around. I sat up and patted Maxx on the head, not willing to loose him anytime soon. He was all the family I had left.

I cried. For hours after Michelle left. I had lost everything, everything and everyone. I was alone in a world full of monsters. And that's when Elvis joined our clan of humans. He was a vampire, but after a car accident, lighting on fire and then being dumped into a body of water, he magically became human again, and he was happier than ever. He didn't agree with what the vampires were doing to the humans, and he wanted to stop them.

He, Audrey, and Lauren had saved my life. Together, they pulled me out of my depression, and made me realize that all of the remaining humans needed my help in order to survive. True, I just wanted everything to be normal again, and at the time, dying didn't seem so bad, but then it did occur to me that the human population was dwindling, and they needed all the help they could get. Even me.

I patted the spot next to me, and Maxx stood up and cuddled next to my side, offering a comfort that I hadn't felt in years. I wrapped my arms around his neck and shut my eyes tight, trying to forget the painful memories and move on with my life.

I fell asleep about a half hour later, and even though I was sleeping, my mind was still racing, and it wasn't a surprise when I woke up to scrambling downstairs, which reminded me that Lauren and Audrey weren't in their beds, so they probably just got back from their mission.

I got up and pulled my hair into a messy ponytail, and then ran downstairs, Maxx by my side, and saw the rescue group in the family room.

"Anna!" Audrey, ran over to me and stood in front of me, a smile on her flawless face. "What was the name of your brother-in-law?" she asked, hope glimmering in her eyes.

"Edward. Edward Dalton," I replied, furrowing my eyebrows when I saw her eyes light up even more, an even bigger smile taking over the small one that appeared earlier.

"I told you!" Lauren exclaimed from behind Audrey, smiling as well, and looking over at George, one of the other members of the team.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We saw him, Anna! Well, we got into a car accident, with his car, but he helped us! He sheltered us when the police came by, and before we left, I checked his name tag, and I knew it sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure. And we decided not to ask, because we didn't want to make a huge mistake, but it was him! He _saved_ us, Anna. He hasn't changed," Audrey told, the huge smile never fading.

Elvis smiled too, not able to hide his reassured mood. "I guess we know which vamp we're going after. Audrey and Anna, get some sleep. You're going to find him tomorrow. We can't let this opportunity go. He'll help us, especially when he knows he'll be helping his sister-in-law," he said, winking at me.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. I was speechless. I was going to see Edward, the man I hadn't spoken to in years, the man that probably knew where Frankie was. Frankie was probably with him. I mean, they were brothers. Wouldn't they stick together?

I couldn't help but smile, and Audrey took that as a good sign, so she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. "This is it Anna. Edward could be our savior," she whispered, not even trying to conceal her excitement.

I just giggled and squeezed her back. I knew this could very well be our way out, but I also knew that trusting a vampire could have its consequences. The search for blood was getting to be a harder and harder task, and nowadays, the vampires weren't getting enough of it, and were becoming extremely aggressive. And I knew that after tonight's act, Edward wouldn't turn us in, but that didn't go for other vampires. Ones that spent all their time hunting humans. Ones that didn't care who they hurt or how they hurt them. Ones that were forced to hunt humans for their job. Ones like Frankie.

**A/N: Woohoo! The next chapter, Anna will have her first encounter with Edward as a vampire. So yeah, this is where my story will merge with the actual movie. Like instead of just Audrey going to Edward's house, Anna will go too. So yeah, I hope you liked it, and I hope it's as much fun reading it, as it was writing it! And as always, thanks so much for all of the reviews and support, I really appreciate it! Thanks so much!**

**BTW: I just wrote chapter five, and its like the longest chapter I've ever written, and it was a lot of fun to write. So if you really like my story, and are looking forward to reading chapter five, all you have to do is review! Because chapter five is ready! Thanks!**


	7. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Audrey and I had to be extremely quiet. We stepped lightly on our feet, making sure that each step we took was no louder than if we were mice. We each held one large crossbow, and I had three knives in my back pocket, just for extra security. Audrey was able to look up where Edward's house was, so Elvis and Jarvis dropped us off at the end of the neighborhood where he lived, and then sped away, leaving us to make the nerve-racking trip to his backdoor. We knew that if they dropped us off at his house directly, it would've been too obvious, and walking quietly was the best way to do it. Luckily, no vampires were out, because it was daytime.

When we finally made it to his house, my heart was beating so fast, I thought it'd break through my chest. Audrey must've sensed my panic, so she placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and together we snuck into his backyard and then walked to his backdoor. Small beads of sweat dripped down my forehead, but I didn't care. During the span of only five minutes, I could be dead. And it was only natural to sweat if your life is only hanging on by a thread.

"It doesn't looked locked," Audrey whispered, and sure enough, as we walked up to it, the doors slid open. _Security Alert. Backdoor ajar. _A security charm vibrated throughout the house, making me jump slightly. It was dark inside, but we could hear a sound in the room next to us, that let us know that someone was definitely here.

I honestly couldn't believe this was happening. It was almost unreal, that we were in a vampire's home. And I was truly scared out of my mind. Audrey, realizing that we were visible in the dim light, stepped back, pulling me back too, so that we were in the shadows. And then we heard footsteps, coming in our direction. The footsteps got slower and slower as he came closer towards us. And through the light, I could barely make out his face, but I knew it was Edward. And even though his skin was deathly pastel, and his eyes glimmered gold instead of his old deep brown, it was him all the same.

He flipped on the light, and the first thing he saw was the end of Audrey's loaded crossbow. He put his hands up, and then his eyes flickered in my direction.

"Hi," Audrey said, trying her best to put on a smile. When he didn't reply, Audrey spoke again. "We need your help," Audrey stated, but, Edward never took his eyes off of me. I offered a small smile, but he seemed to be in a mental state of shock.

"A-Anna?" he stammered. "Is that really you?"

I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He remembered me. I smiled at him and nodded. "It's been so long," I managed to mutter.

"I-I can't believe it," he murmured. He glanced behind him once, as if looking for someone, but then turned his focus back to us. He looked frantic, and panicked. I wondered if I was giving off the same fear that he was.

"We've been searching for vampires we can trust," Audrey added, looking at me.

"Trust?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, taking the paper and eyeing it extremely carefully.

"You're a blood doctor. You can help us," Audrey replied.

"Help you, how?" he asked, clearly confused.

"A blood substitute is a solution but it's not a cure. There's another way," she said, once again, glancing slightly at me. We both knew what she was thinking: Elvis. He was the answer to the vampire pandemic. He was the cure.

"Here," I handed Edward a slip of paper, with a location written on it and a date and a time, as well. "Please come. We really need your help."

He took the piece of paper cautiously, eyeing it in complete curiosity. Then, he looked up, and turned his attention back to me. He shook his head in utter disbelief, and then, without thinking, I set down my crossbow and hugged him. Surprised, he didn't know what to do at first, but then closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around me, just like a brother would do to his younger sibling.

For a moment, it felt like everything was back to normal. I finally had someone that I had known for so long, with me. Someone I felt like I could trust was back with me, and I didn't want the moment to end. But then a noise sounded from another room, and more footsteps were coming downstairs. Edward quickly let go, and whispered, "Go now," with a worried expression on his perfect, pale, ghostly face.

I wiped a tear from my cheek and looked once more into his golden eyes, before turning around, grabbing my weapon, and racing out the door, with Audrey right behind. Luckily, Elvis and Jarvis had circled the neighborhood, and were back at the end of the neighborhood, so our escape route was easy.

"So how was it?" Jarvis asked as soon as we got into the car.

"It went great. He took the paper. He seemed to be in shock," Audrey said, glancing at me. "But he said okay. So I'd be expecting him Wednesday at noon. This is it!"

"Yes!" Jarvis exclaimed, letting out a laugh of relief.

And then we all laughed, and none of us could hide the relief that shone ever so obviously on our smiling faces. This was the moment we'd been waiting for. Having a vampire on our side was something we really needed. Even if he wasn't willing to try the cure for vampirism, he could still help in other ways. He was a blood doctor, after all.

"We'll have to celebrate when we get home. And tell the others. Then, we'll have to get prepared for what exactly were going to ask him to do. He probably wouldn't appreciate it if we were completely dumbfounded on what we needed him to do," Elvis explained.

We all nodded and smiled at each other. Things were finally starting to go in favor of the humans. And we hoped it would stay that way for at least a little while. It'd been years since God gave us a break. It was about time we had a little relief.

**OoOo OoOo**

One thing about Edward was that he was incredibly prompt. He arrived down the dirt road at exactly noon. Audrey met him by the beginning of the road, and then lead him to the back, where Elvis and I waited rather impatiently.

As we saw Audrey walk up the road, she nodded and smiled slightly. I stood up and paced, my heart pounding out of my chest, while Elvis leaned calmly against the tree, acting like this wasn't even a big deal.

"You know they can smell your fear, right?" he muttered. "And right now, I bet you reek."

I rolled my eyes as he chuckled at his own little joke, and I tried to calm myself down. I gripped the crossbow in my hand tightly, as if it was life support, and continued to pace until I saw Edward pull into the shade and get out of the car, with Audrey right behind him.

He looked at me and smiled, his fangs showing like daggers behind his lips, and his fake golden eyes gleaming. I smiled back and looked down at the ground, still trying to keep my cool. That's when Elvis came out from his hiding spot and started talking to Edward. He started off with his story about the trees. And how they were the oldest living creatures on earth. He also explained all about his past, and even started explaining cure and everything else, too.

Audrey, meanwhile, walked back to the road, to keep watch. I, on the other hand, stayed right where I was, Slyly watching Edward, trying to take in his whole appearance. He hadn't aged a bit, which was completely normal for vamps, but somehow, he seemed older. Tired. He looked very tired. And I noted how his ears pointed at the top, like an elf. I giggled quietly to myself, and continued to stare at him.

None of us noticed when Audrey came around the corner, a gun pointed to her back, and a displeased and angered look scowled on her faultless face. As soon as Elvis and I both saw it, we pointed our crossbows at her kidnapper, and we were both ready to blow the captor's head off, when he spoke.

"Put the gun down," he ordered.

"Frankie?" Edward asked. My heart stopped.

"Put the gun down," he repeated, taking off his face mask.

"What the—" Edward stammered. "What the hell are you doing?"

The both started arguing, Edward telling Frankie to stop, and Frankie telling Edward to stop. I couldn't believe this was happening.

"This is serious shit Ed, they could put you away for a long time," Frankie growled. Then he turned his attention to Audrey, Elvis, and I.

Elvis looked at me, and shouted, "Anna," when my gun dropped to the ground. My body froze. It was him. Frankie. He was clothed in his work uniform, which was to catch humans. And then, he turned his full attention to me, and locked eyes with me. His mouth gaped slightly, and he mouthed "Anna?"

"Anna, get your gun!" Elvis shouted, as Audrey took Frankie's shock as an advantage and pushed him into the sunlight. His uncovered eyes started steaming, and he fell against the ground, with a little help from Elvis, who punched him in the face with his crossbow.

"Get in my car," Elvis ordered, once we realized that more speeding vampire cars were coming towards us.

More gunshots rang out towards us, piercing Elvis's car. "Mother fuckers!" Elvis growled, pointing his crossbow to the large army vans, as if that would do any damage to them.

Edward took one last look at his downed brother and shouted, "C'mon, get in my car," and then jumped into the driver's seat, opening the backdoor so that Audrey, Elvis, and I could climb in as well. The gunshots still fired at us, and I looked back only once to see Frankie, standing back in the shade, staring out our car with the same shocked expression on his beautifully paled skin.

I shut my eyes tight, feeling tears fall down my face as all of the memories flooded back into my head. When I opened them, havoc was in the car. Edward was driving, but the gunshots were creating holes in the back on the car, and Edward was getting burned every time the light would shine on him.

"Anna!" Audrey shouted, trying her hardest to cover up the holes, but there was two more than she could handle, so I shook my head angrily, and took off my cardigan, placing it over the two uncovered holes.

"Here," Elvis said, handing me a gun he had in his jacket in case of an emergency. I knew it was utterly useless; the vampires trucks were too durable, and the bullets wouldn't go through, but I still stuck my torso out of the window, being careful not to let the sun touch Edward's skin, and then shot at the incoming trucks. It was no use.

I heard Audrey mutter from inside the car, and when I pulled myself back in the window, I realized that she had laid herself out flat against the backseat, trying to escape the bullets. "Anna," she muttered, making more room for me to huddle next to her. The vampires then shot out the cameras on his car, so Elvis and Edward had to make a quick seat change. Elvis started turning the car in all sorts of directions, until finally, we sped over a broken bridge, and lost all of the vampire hunters. We then starting driving to the place where Elvis unknowingly discovered the cure to vampirism.

"Mother fuckers," Elvis muttered. "I loved that car."

When we reached our destination, at first, only Elvis got out of the car. Audrey, Edward, and I stayed behind for a few moments.

"You did the right thing," Audrey noted, breaking the silence between us.

"That was my brother," he muttered, stinging me with a cold chill.

"I know," Audrey muttered, turning to look at me. "C'mon." She put one hand on my shoulder, and then followed me out the car.

"You know I've never been good at science, Doc. Cars have always been my thing," Elvis started, smiling slightly. "Late night modifications are my specialty. Or used to be. Custom cameras, sunshields, that kind of thing. My garage was one of the first in town to start doing them. I had a shop right near your place. Daytime drivin', man. Nothin' beats it. No traffic, no cops, trouble is, if you ain't careful, you can get yourself one hell of a sunburn." Elvis then told Edward all about how exactly he founded the cure. A simple act of not watching the road, not wearing a seatbelt, and then crashing and landing into a lake made him a human being once again.

"We need to recreate this, safely," Audrey said, once Elvis was done. "That's why we need you."

"The sun. Your human, because of the sun."

"Hurt like hell," Elvis replied.

**OoOo OoOo **

We decided to take Edward back to the shelter. We did run into some trouble though, when Audrey realized that Edward's large ears was a symptom of becoming a subsider. We had to cut her hand and allow him to drink it. If we brought him to a place filled with humans, there could be a situation on our hands.

When we arrived at the refuge, Jarvis had just arrived as well, with a playful yet annoyed look on his face, he said, "Well its about Goddamn time."

"Stop worrying; you'll live longer," Audrey laughed, embracing him into a huge hug.

"Annabear," he said, turning his attention towards me, giving me a large hug as well. I hated it when he called me that. So, that's probably why he called me that.

"Jarvis, this is Ed," Audrey introduced, motioning towards Edward, who was lighting a cigarette at the time.

"Ed," Jarvis said, making Edward jump slightly at his booming voice. "Well ain't this nothing. Usually when there's a vampire around, I'm the one shittin' my pants," he joked. Audrey and I chuckled. "You better be worth the risk, man."

"I just made contact with the largest human group we've found, in a long time," Jarvis said. "And I'm gonna bring them back here. Anna, you want to come with?" he asked. I was a usual part of Jarvis's team, but right now, I wanted to stay with Audrey, and Ed, and Elvis. But I knew he would need a lot of help, so I accepted.

"Good, we leave in about 30, so get ready fast."

I nodded and looked over at Audrey. "I better go get ready," I told her, making an awkward eye-contact with Edward.

"We should all go inside," Audrey offered, starting to walk towards the front door. C'mon," she added, when Edward hesitated.

I uncomfortably parted with Audrey, Edward, and Elvis and walked upstairs to where Audrey and I had our small room. Since we were one of the first of the group, we were able to claim a room for the both of us. And it was somewhat nice, compared to some of the rooms the others got.

"Knock, knock." I turned around the see Edward by my door, his eyes glancing awkwardly around my tiny, dim, room.

"Oh hey," I said, offering a small smile. "How'd you find your way up here?"

"Audrey showed me. Besides, this house isn't exactly enormous," he pointed out, walking further into the room.

"Yeah. Well, its no mansion beauty, but it keeps us safe. And being safe isn't an emotion we feel very often anymore," I said, blinking at his sharp, dagger-like fangs.

"I've never agreed with what they were doing to you. That's why I devoted my life to find the substitute. I wanted to save the human race from extinction."

"Well that's good and noble of you, Eddie, but you're probably the only vamp that wants the substitute. None of them really care about how we turn out."

"That's not true. I've met plenty of people—I mean vampires that don't agree with what they're doing. We're just afraid to take a stand. It's getting crazy out there, Anna. Even for us."

"I'm sorry but it's hard to feel pity for you, when you have my friends and family in a large factory sucking the blood out of their lifeless bodies as we speak," I snapped at him. He didn't reply right away, and I looked up to see him staring at me, hurt clouding his golden eyes.

"Anna," he started, giving me a look of pure sympathy. "I'm so sorry," he added, shaking his head in sadness.

"It's not your fault," I replied, turning back to my dresser, packing for tonight's trip. Usually, I would just need the clothes on my back, but Elvis always tells us to bring an extra pair, just in case there was a situation and we needed to rest overnight.

Edward walked over to me, and picked up one of the three picture frames that sat upon my dresser top, staring at me with sad memories, and every time I looked at them, my heart sank. He picked up the one of him, Frankie, and I. We were at a restaurant, all human. The waiter was kind enough to take our picture before we left.

"I remember that," he laughed, and smiled fondly at the memory. I smiled too, and watched as he picked up the second one.

This time, it was just Frankie and I. We had traveled to North Carolina, and in the picture, we were climbing up an extremely large mountain. The picture was of us when we reached the top. Dirty, sweaty, and extremely tired, we were still able to wear happy smiles on our faces as we celebrated with two bottles of Bud Light.

"You two were so happy," he murmured, setting the picture down carefully. And then there was the last one.

Frankie had proposed to me on a Thursday evening. He had taken me out to a beautiful restaurant, one that I thought only the extremely wealthy or famous could afford. I remember that he wore a nice suit, while I wore a gorgeous dress, one that he had picked out for me only a few days before. We then started to enjoy our delicious meal, when he ordered two glasses of "their finest champagne". When the waiter came back, the ring was tied to the stem of the drink, and then Frankie got down on one knee, and proposed.

The picture was of that moment. When I had said yes, and we both stood up, and I jumped into his warm, strong arms. And with my arms wrapped tightly around him, you could faintly see the glimmer of the ring as it boasted of its beauty on my left ring finger.

Edward smiled and then looked down at my hand. The ring was still there. I never took it off. I couldn't. It just didn't feel right. "That was a beautiful night," Edward whispered. He wasn't there, but he was part of the greeting party when we had arrived home that night. "You two were so happy."

"It was the best night of my life," I admitted, trying to hold back the tears that were trying their hardest to push through my sensitive eyes.

"Anna, come on!" I rolled my eyes when I heard Jarvis called me from downstairs.

"Well, I better go," I said, looking at Edward. One tear managed to escape, and Edward closed his eyes, a frown planted on his beautiful face.

"Anna, wait." Edward called, when I turned around to leave. He walked over to me, and then put his arms on my shoulders, stared at me for a few moments, and then pull me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him again, and felt safe in my brother-in-law's arms. I missed him, and being near him gave me a steady reminder of Frankie, who kept me unbearably in pain, because I missed him so much.

"He misses you," Edward whispered in my ear.

"I miss him too," I whispered back, feeling another warm tear fall down my cheek.

"If he finds you, don't be scared Anna. No matter how low the blood source is, he would never hurt you. I know that."  
I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. Sure, he didn't want to hurt me, and he probably wouldn't let anyone else hurt me either. So that means he'd do anything to protect me. Like, for example, change me. And to me, that was a heart-wrenching pain all the same.

**A/N: So this is it! It's not like huge, and definitely not the biggest chapter of the story… But it was longer than usually and over 3,000 words, so for me, that's a big accomplishment! Hahaha. Sorry it took me so long to update… and if it wasn't what you expected, I'm sorry and I'll try my hardest to make it up to you as soon as possible! Thanks everyone! I appreciate your reviews and support! : )**


	8. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

When we reached the other shelter, there were about twelve people in all in the hideout. I was surprised to learn that one was Allison Bromley; the daughter of the man that ran the entire blood drive. On our way back to our refuge, she told Jarvis and I all about how she told her dad she wouldn't change, and never would. So she ran away, and the people from her hideout were open arms that she could trust enough to live with. She sat in the middle of the front row, between Jarvis and I, and it was hard to get away from her voice. I really just wanted to be alone.

So, I pretended to listen. I had enough on my mind already, I'd given up listening to her blab about something I honestly had no interest in. So, I looked out the window and thought about everything that had happened in the past day, and eventually my mind wandered to everything that had happened in my entire life.

I was consumed deep in my thoughts when I felt one of our truck's tires go flat, and eventually stop from, what I guessed to be a stick or sharp edge on the road's surface. All of the trucks stopped, and Jarvis muttered a curse, and got out of the car to see the problem. I heard him curse even louder, and then shouted something, that spread a panic throughout all of the trucks. I grabbed a large crossbow from the backseat, and flipped on the trucks lights, and followed Jarvis out of the car. The other trucks followed my example, flipped on their lights and then all of the passengers got out of the car, with their crossbows, crouching beside the car.

Allison sat close to me, and put her hand on my arm. I found it odd that I could feel her heart racing through her chest, until I realized I was hearing my own heart. I also realized that my hands were shaking violently. They had found us. And right now, they were in the pitch-black, which meant they'd pick us off like flies until all of us were dead.

I jumped when an arrow pierced through Jarvis's neck, who crouched next to me. His eyes rolled back into his head, and then he passed out. And like that, more and more arrows were being shot at us, and sure enough people were dropping on the ground every time you averted your eyes to a different spot. I shot blindly out into the night with my crossbow, and Alison snuck into the truck and grabbed a radio, calling into it, her voice shaking along with her hands.

"Alison, don't let them—" I was cut off, by a sharp pain coming from my neck. My crossbow dropped the ground, and my vision blurred. I was then that all of the vampires came out of their hiding spot, and ran around us, picking us up and throwing us into their military vehicles. Alison was still talking to someone on the other side. And to myself, I finished my sentence, _get the radio_. I knew that if they found the radio, they could track where the others were, and then we'd be done for. My mind was still spinning when I heard my name being called.

"Anna?"

I recognized the voice. And as I looked up, I saw one of the vampires take off their masks, and I saw him again. "Frankie," I muttered, before my vision went completely black, and I could only hear it as Alison fell to the ground next to me, and the person on the other line of the radio still trying to get information.

**OoOo OoOo**

I woke up in a small room. It had no windows, no furniture, no wallpaper or carpeting. It was empty, like a jail cell. I sat up and rubbed my temples, which were throbbing with an extreme pain. When I finally got my vision steady, I looked around the room. And let out a gasp of relief when I saw Alison sitting in the corner as well, a frightened look overpowering her beautiful face.

"Alison," I muttered, finding it difficult to stand up. I walked over to her like I was drunk, and sat beside her, trying to remember everything that happened the night before.

"Anna," she replied, looking at me and giving me a small hug. "They spared us Anna. But nobody else," she said, looking down at her feet.

"Who saved us?" I asked, knowing that the person that spared Alison had to of been her father, because they were blood, and even if she was human, Bromley knew he couldn't give up his only daughter. But a questions burned in the back of my racing mind. _Why me?_ The first person that came to mind was Frankie. But would Bromley allow him to spare a perfectly good human, just for something that happened years and years ago?

"My dad spared me. He told me that he wanted me to join him, and that he missed me. He said this right before he told me he killed all of my friends and is harvesting them for their blood," she said, letting out a disgusted snort. "And he thinks I'll join him? I'd rather die than become one of them."

I nodded in agreement. But the question still remained as to who saved my life?

"Frank, I think it was," she muttered, her eyebrows wrinkling, deep in thought. "He's the one that was there with my father. He said something about you. I think he was the one that saved you."

My heart starting beating abnormally fast again. He did save me. Edward was right about that. But I was still scared, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to change, but now it looked like I had absolutely no choice.

I was about to reply, when a loud noise sounded from the door. Someone was opening it, and coming in. Alison and I both scampered to our feet, and tried to control our breathing as two figures walked in. One was a female vampire, with dark brown hair, and those same strikingly beautiful golden eyes. She was carrying a tray, with solid food on it, and two glasses of water. The other was her guard, I guessed. And as I looked more intently at him, I realized that it was Frankie.

"Here you are," the female said in a shockingly somewhat kind voice. She placed the tray on the cold hard ground, and then looked back at us. Frankie never took his eyes off of me. "You must be hungry."

"Go away," Alison hissed, her hands clenched into tight fists. "We don't want your food."

"Don't be stupid," Frankie growled, taking his eyes off of me for a moment to glare at Alison. "This could be your last meals as humans; I'd embrace it," he added, smiling at his last statement.

"We're not changing. We'd rather die than become one of you," Alison snarled, repeating what she told me a few minutes earlier.

"Fine. Then we'll just place you on the conveyor belt with all of your other friends, and you can be drained of all of your precious blood," Frankie retorted.

The female vampire lightly smacked Frankie's shoulder and said "Oh, be sympathetic. They're obviously scared and confused."

"Don't talk about us like were children." This time, I was the one to snarl at the two sickening vampires. "We're obviously not as fucking confused and crazy as you monsters are. You're killing off the human population. And soon, there won't be anymore of your 'precious' blood, and you'll all die." I couldn't help but smile at the thought of karma biting all of these stupid creatures on the ass when their stupidity finally caught up to them. "I honestly can't believe how fucking stupid you all are. You're killing yourselves."

The female pulled back her lips and bared her teeth, I guess not happy when reality was explained to her thoroughly. Frankie just stared at me, his eyebrows wrinkled in fury, and then he turned around and left the room, followed closely by the female vampire.

"They're watching us," Alison noted, looking up into a camera that was hanging on the ceiling. I rolled my eyes, and pretended that this wasn't there. And then the room went silent.

"I won't do it," Alison muttered, about ten minutes after they left. We were crouched on the floor, our backs pressed hard against the cold walls, both of us shaking slightly.

"You won't do what?" I asked, not looking away from the spot on the floor that I was staring at.

"Be a vampire. They're going to change us, but I won't stay. I won't drink human blood," she said firmly, her voice trembling slightly.

"You know what happens when you don't. You'll turn into a subsider. And that's a horrible fate Alison. Don't do that to yourself."

"So I'm just supposed to suck down human blood when I know its wrong? I can't do that!"

"You'll have to try Alison. You can't kill yourself. Not after everything we've been through. Elvis, the man who is the leader of our refuge, has the cure. He can change us."

"But how long will that take? For all we know, he could be dead."

"Don't say that!" I growled at her. How could she say that? We had to constantly have faith and hope. Even if it was false faith, sometimes hope was all we had to hang on to.

We looked at each other for a long time, until finally she murmured "sorry", and helplessly yawned, her eyes shutting feebly. "I can't believe I'm still tired," she continued.

"You should get some rest. I'll keep watch just in case they come back," I said. Alison nodded and gently put her head on the ground, curling up into a small ball, and shut her eyes tight. She was scared. We both were. And we both knew what was going to happen to us. Which scared me even more.

I let out a few frustrated tears, and put my head into my legs, letting more and more tears fall from my tired eyes. I couldn't believe this was happening, and I didn't want it to happen either. I hated this. And I couldn't believe that the man I loved was doing this to me either.

I let the muscles in my neck completely relax and closed my eyes as well, and soon I drifted off into a deep sleep, only to be awoken again by the sound of opening doors.

**OoOo OoOo**

"Anna, help me!" my eyes opened abruptly, and I stood up, watching Alison being taken away by two vampires. Her eyes were wide with fear and she struggled to get away, but they were too strong. Against all odds, I ran over and tried to pry her from them, but I felt hands grab my waist and pull me back until Alison was gone.

I turned around to confront my attacker when I realized who exactly it was. Frankie. Again. I furrowed my eyebrows in anger and pulled away from him, running over to the door, screaming "Alison", as if that would do any good.

"She's gone, Anna," Frankie said, walking over to me again and grabbing my arms to stop me from banging on the door.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" I growled, trying to keep myself from trying to murder him.

"It's time. They're going to change her," he said softly, letting go of me as I finally calmed down enough to comprehend what was happening.

I didn't speak. This was it. This was the moment I had been dreading ever since the very beginning. I was captured. I was done for. It was over. I tilted my head in defeat. The vamps won. We sat in silence for a few moments, as I came to terms with my future. And right now, more than anything, I just wanted it to go back to the way things were. And I couldn't help it when more tears poured out of my eyes. Frankie turned back to me. I could tell that he was upset, but he didn't know what to do. So he just put his hand on my shoulder and whispered, "It won't hurt."

"Yes it will. Please don't lie to me."

"Only a little bit. But in the morning, all of the pain will be gone. I promise," he pushed me against the wall and pressed his mouth onto my delicate neck. And before he stuck his daggers into my bloodstream, I swore I heard him whisper "I'm so sorry."

And that made the pain hurt so much worse.

**Chapter six! Woo! Haha tell me what you think! I'd really appreciate it! And who's excited to see Iron Man 2?! Robert Downey Jr., woo! Haha. If you've seen it, tell me if it was good or bad! I **_**can't **_**wait! Review please! Thanks everyone! : )**

**P.S. sorry if this was short, the next chapter will be longer, I promise. And here was the moment you all were waiting for. The Frankie/Anna run in. Hope you liked it.**


	9. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

I woke up abruptly, in a dark room. It took my eyes about a minute to fully adjust, but when I pulled myself together, I realized that I was in a house. A small lamp was lit on the counter of the kitchen, and I was sprawled out on a couch in what I guessed the family room was. My mind was racing. I had no idea what was happening, and I couldn't remember anything either. My mind was a completely blank.

I shook my head angrily, upset that I couldn't remember anything from the past week, or as to how I got into this strange home. The last thing I remembered was leaving Audrey, Elvis, and Edward behind as I went with Jarvis to find the newcomers. Alison. The name popped into my head and a light bulb lit as soon as I pictured her face. We had been captured by the vampires. I shuddered at the memory, and then shook my head again, as if that would organize my thoughts and help me think clearly again. And then I remembered the room that Alison and I were held in. It was cool, dull, and most of all, daunting.

And then, after my thoughts gathered together, and I could make sense of my situation, it all came back to me. Every moment that had seemed lost in time, I could see them. Frankie. He saved me, but the last thing I could remember was when he bit me. And then my mind sank. I was a vampire. Frankie had turned me. I growled in anger, and then caught myself. _What was that? _I closed my eyes, and sucked in my breath. I could hear footsteps. A loud thumping. It was coming for me, but the sound was almost muffled by something. I closed my eyes tighter, and continued to listen, until I realized what the strange noise was.

It was the sound of a heart. _My_ heart. My heart was pounding in my chest. I put my hand to my racing organ, and took deep breaths. Why was my heart beating? If Frankie had changed me, I would be the walking dead right now. I would have no pulse. I looked down at my skin and realized that it was still my usual olive-tan color. But this wasn't right. I felt him bite me. He leaned into my neck, and bit me. So why wasn't I dead?

I ran my hand through my wavy hair, and then rubbed my temples softly, trying to piece everything together. Maybe it was all a dream. That's what I hoped. I hoped that Audrey and Elvis would come walking through the door, just like old times, no vampires. Just humans. And then an even better thought came to mind. _What if everything was a dream? _ I closed my eyes, and pictured Frankie walking through the door, human. We were both human, in love, married, and everything was the way we'd always dreamed it would be. I opened my eyes again, but the room was still dark, and my heart was still racing.

I stood up and walked over to the kitchen. No picture frames, no signs of who owned the house, just a dull kitchen with a noisy refrigerator, and a running dishwasher. I ran my hand over the cool granite and shuddered. Where the hell was I? I decided to explore the house some more. It was no use to just stand there and do nothing, if I was going to find out what was going on, I needed to figure out where I was first.

"Hello?" I tried to speak, but my voice was barely audible. It cracked and that's when I realized how badly it hurt. I tried to speak again, but I felt sick, and even just saying 'hello' was making it worse. I tried to clear my throat and then spoke again. "Hello? Is anybody there?" My voice was louder now, and clearer too. I felt as if any moment, my heart was going to leap out of my aching chest.

My entire body froze when I heard footsteps. I listened carefully to make sure it wasn't my heart, but I knew that these were actual footsteps now. They were too perfect to be my frightened and wild heart. They had to be a human. Or vampire. I wasn't sure who's house this was.

Before the footsteps reached the door, my instinct told me to grab one of the steak knives sitting on the counter, just in case. I held the knife tightly, keeping it low at my side. I didn't want to seem threatening, at least not right away. If this person or vampire wanted me dead, they would've killed me. I wasn't entirely worried about my life at the moment.

The door opened, and then two pairs of footsteps walked into the room. It was so dark that I couldn't make out their faces, but one was a man, and one was a woman. I could tell by their body types and hair. Neither spoke, but the male ran over to the opposite side of the room and put his hand on the light and switched it on.

At first the light completely blinded me, and I had to put one hand over my eyes to see their faces. And once my eyes adjusted, I realized who they were. One was Michelle. My long lost sister that abandoned me when I needed her most, and the other was Frankie. They both stared at me with blank expressions, but then my sister lightened up and gave me a huge smile.

"Anna! How are you?" she asked, racing around the counter to give me a hug. When I pushed the knife forward a bit, to keep her away from me, her smile faded and she stepped back. "You won't be needing that. We won't hurt you," she said, almost angrily.

"I don't understand," I muttered, looking at Michelle and then back at Frankie again. "Why am I here? Why am I human? I watched you bite me. I'm supposed to be dead," I said to him, my eyes frantically searching their faces for answers.

"Calm down sweetie, just put the knife down and then we'll explain everything to you," she ordered, pursing her lips in a begging notion.

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down. I don't know where I am, my heart is about to beat right through my chest, and I'm scared okay?" I admitted, feeling a tear fall down my cheek. "Where are my friends? Where's Alison? Why am I still a fucking human?" I shouted at them, feeling more tears escape my tired eyes.

"Please Anna, just calm down and we'll explain everything to you," Michelle soothed. My mind was still racing, when I looked over to Frankie's standing spot, and realized he wasn't there anymore. Before I could turn around and look for him, I felt his hand grab mine, and snatch the knife right out of it. I turned around quickly, and was about to try and get it back, when he grabbed both of my hands, and held me in place. Out of places to turn, I finally relaxed my muscles, and calmed down. If they wanted me dead, they would've killed me. I knew I needed to give them a chance to explain what was going on, so I gently pulled myself away from Frankie, and whispered, "I'm listening."

"Come sit down," Michelle said, motioning to the couch. "I'll let Frankie explain. I should go keep watch." I almost protested, not wanting to be alone with Frankie, but thought better of it, and warily sat down, my heart still racing.

"So?" I demanded. He kept his gaze away from me until he was just about to reply. And then he looked deep into my eyes and he looked sincere.

"I couldn't do it," he said softly, switching his gaze down to the floor again.

"But why?" I asked. "Isn't it what you always wanted? To completely ruin my life?" I snapped, my blood turning ice cold.

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "You just don't get it, do you Anna?" he spat.

"I understand everything, Frankie."

"No, you obviously don't. Jesus Christ. I thought you be happy with me. I could've turned you Anna. And damn, did I want to. But I fought my temptations and kept you human," he growled.

"Why?" I asked, feeling a little embarrassed for my outbreak.

"Because it was what you wanted," he murmured.

And, with those words, my heart sank. I looked into his eyes, and wished I could take everything back. He wanted me to be a vampire, more than anything, and he kept me human because that's what I wanted. He loved me. And I wish I could've seen that all along. He loved me enough to want to protect me, by changing me, but respect as well. I didn't know what to say to him.

"I'm going to tell them that you killed yourself. You ran outside during daytime because you didn't want to do it. They'll believe me; they trust me. And you can stay here, until I find your friends. And Edward," he added.

"And what about you?" I asked, this time, shifting my gaze to the floor.

"What about me?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stay here. This is what you want. Not me."

"But Frankie, we have the cure. We can change you, and everyone else too," I said, almost in a begging tone.

"Well that's not what I want Anna. I like being a vampire. Just like you like being a human."

"I don't want to do it again," I whispered, my gaze fixed on the floor. I couldn't look at him. My heart was sinking lower and lower, until I thought that it would sink into oblivion. It made my chest burn with anger and sadness. It was truly the worst feeling I had ever experienced.

"You don't want to do what again?" he asked, his voice also low and quiet.

"Leave you."

He continued to stare blankly at me, and then finally switched his gaze to the floor as well. He put his head into his hands and rubbed his temples, confusion and grief taking over his entire emotions. But I meant every word I had just spoken to him. Leaving him the first time was the hardest thing I'd ever done, and he expected me to do the same thing now? After ten years of being apart, he expected me to get up and walk away from it all again. I looked at him again, but his gaze was still fixed on the ground. I wished I could tell what he was thinking, but even his expression was completely blank. And I felt completely hopeless.

"Watching you leave, was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life." He finally spoke, looking up at me, his eyes clouded with despair.

"And leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done," I added, feeling a small pathetic tear make its way down my quivering cheeks.

"So why did you do it?" he asked, putting his hands into fists out of anger.

"We've been over this before, Frankie," I murmured, somewhat annoyed. "Can't you see that the vampires are wrong? Look at what they've done to the humans!" I hissed at him, angrily furrowing my eyebrows.

"We're only trying to survive," he replied calmly.

"Survive? Well you know what Frankie? We're only trying to survive as well. And now there's only about 50 humans left on this planet."

"We will always find something to satisfy our blood thirst," he answered again, his face expressionless.

"Jesus Frankie! I feel like I'm talking to a complete emotionless moron!" I spat, standing up and pacing around the room, only stopping once to stare at him sitting down in front of me. "Let me make this simple for you: Without humans, the vampires die. And now there are only a few humans left on earth. And you think that's okay?"

This time, Frankie looked up at me and didn't reply for several seconds. "I was confused, Anna. We all were. You think we wanted this to happen? This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Vampirism was supposed to be a gift, not a curse. And now look what's happening," he said quietly.

"You should've known it was going to be a curse to begin with."

He grew angry with my remark, and stood up, facing me. "Well you know what Anna? When I was changed, I wasn't thinking about what could go wrong, my only thoughts were about you. We could've lived together forever. Immortality; we would never grow old, we would never have to face death. It would be me and you until the end. I wasn't thinking about the bad things, only the good things, for us."

I didn't reply, but just turned my head until his face was no longer in my view. I was angry, yet hopeful at the same time. I hated fighting with him, and I knew that he hated fighting with me. And when we were human, it was rare that we had fights, but when we did, we tried to end it quickly, and then kiss and makeup. Life isn't long enough to spend it fighting with the one you're supposed to love. That's what we'd always say. And when we'd get over our fights, it just made us stronger. And I wondered if that was what Frankie was thinking of at the moment.

I looked back at him, and saw that he had been staring at the floor, but once he felt my gaze, he looked back at me, his golden eyes staring right into my soul. He inched closer to me, until our faces were just centimeters from each other, and he then, cautiously, leaned forward to kiss me. I met him halfway, and was eager to ease the burning flame in my longing heart, but as soon as our lips were just a breath away, we were interrupted when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out of his front pocket and read the message. "I have to go," he murmured, looking at me one last time before walking away.

"Wait Frankie," I reached for his arm as he turned around, but he pulled away from my grasp, and walked out the door, completely ignoring my pleas for him to stay.

I sat back down on the couch and cried. My heart wasn't racing anymore, it was being torn apart into a million different pieces. I felt like I had betrayed him. And I didn't want him to leave either. I guess I hadn't realized how much I loved and missed him, until I finally watched him walk out on me. And the pain was excruciating.

"He'll be back." I turned my head to see Michelle looking at me from the doorway. She carefully sat down next to me and put her hand on my shoulder, pity clouding her beautiful golden eyes. "He's trying to find as much blood as he possibly can. It's not easy living with humans, you know," she added.

"I just never thought about it before Michelle. I've spent all these years blaming him, and all he's been trying to do was protect me. I was so stupid."

"You're not stupid. And he knows you're not stupid. You were scared. Fear is a natural reaction. He was scared too. That's why he wanted to change you."

"How did he do it? How did he pull off the fake bite?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"Well, you passed out almost as soon as he put her lips around your neck, so that made it ten times easier. But after, he put his jacket over your body and told them that he was going to take you home, so you wouldn't be as frightened in the morning. He also quickly disconnected the monitor, just in case. He also had Bromley on his side. He was very grateful to him. Frankie found his daughter."

"Yeah, Alison. What happened to her?"

I saw Michelle look down at the ground. And when she lifted her head again to look me in the eye, her eyes were clouded with remorse and grief. "She won't drink blood. She refuses to. And she's getting worse and worse with every passing hour. She's drinking her own blood, which is making the subsider process speed up a lot faster."

I stared in shock. Sure, me and Alison hadn't hit it off and become best friends straight off the bat or anything, but she was so young, and had so much potential. It just wasn't right. She deserved a better life. "No," was all I could mutter.

"I'm so sorry, Anna," she dipped her head in respect once again.

"What about Ed? And Audrey and Elvis?"

"Who?" she asked.

"My friends. Edward, Audrey and Elvis. Where are they?" I demanded, feeling my blood pressure rise.

"I haven't heard anything of them. Which means they're probably still safe. Edward would've probably come back to Frankie, don't you think?" she pondered.

"No, why would he do that? Frankie almost got him in a lot of trouble! And almost killed Audrey, Elvis, and I," I said softly, breathing a sigh of relief that at least they were okay.

Michelle didn't reply, and instead stood up and walked into the kitchen area. "We've got lots of food, just in case your hungry. And after she said 'hungry' my stomach rumbled angrily. I hadn't eaten since the morning before. I was starved.

She fed me a small garden salad, with ranch dressing and fresh fruits. It brought me back to when our mom used to make us salads. Every Sunday night. She called it, 'Salad Sundays'. Of course, I had been a vegetarian since I was very little, and just because food was scarce, didn't change my eating habits. I mostly ate the fresh vegetables and fruits that we harvested back at the orchard.

"Where are the kids?" I asked, between fork-fulls.

"At mom's," she replied. "I figured that if Frankie and I were caught with you…" she trailed off and cleared her throat. "Well, let's just say, I didn't want my children to be around if that happened," she continued hastily.

"Oh. Okay."

"Oh and hey, here," she stood up and ran over to a purse sitting on the counter. She reached in for something, and pulled out a cell phone. "I know it isn't much, but it was the only one I could find. I already put Frankie and my cell phone numbers in it, just in case you need us."

"Thanks," I grabbed the phone eagerly and struggled to remember what Audrey or Elvis's cell phone numbers were. My brain felt broken, though, and I couldn't think that specifically. I cursed myself and set the phone on the table, defeated.

"Well, I better get back to work. The sun's coming up soon, and I should at least report in. We don't want anyone getting suspicious." She stood up and grabbed the purse from the counter. "There's a TV in the other room. And your bedroom is the third room to the left, down that hallway. Frankie should be home sooner than I. See you later," she said, before she slammed the door shut behind her.

I whispered 'bye', and then sat for a moment in the quiet home. I felt lonely. Without any normal human being around, it felt cold in the room. I pictured Jarvis's laugh, and Audrey's singing, Elvis's wise words. And for a moment, I could see them around me, doing their daily chores, whistling without a worry, just like old times. And then I blinked, and the whole memory faded away. I sighed angrily and felt a warm tear run down my cheek. It seemed as though I'd cried so much, my body would be out of tears, but I guess not.

I sat at the table and thought for a long time, and then realized how restless I was. I slowly stood up, and then walked over to the garage door, and peeked inside.

I looked out into the garage and there was a car sitting in the second spot. I opened the door, and saw that there no keys in the ignition, so I walked back into the kitchen and looked through all of the drawers until I found the keys. Frankie and Michelle honestly couldn't expect me to sit in the house for so long, doing nothing until they got home, so I took the keys and the car, and started to drive. I knew exactly where I was headed. The orchard. Being careful to make sure I had no followers, I headed towards my once safe haven, just to see what had become of it.

When I finally reached it, I knew it had been evacuated, or they had been captured, because it was completely empty. I could tell from just pulling up to the house. The front door was open, and there was no life inside or out. It killed me.

I was about to turn around when I saw movement outside in the bushes. And then, a figure came into view. It was Maxx. He was skinny, his ribs visible even from the camera in Edwards car. I got out of the car, and called the vulnerable dog's name. His ears perked, and he stood up, walking carefully towards me, but after a few minutes, he must've realized it was me, because he ran over to me and licked my hands and face.

I walked around with him for a little at the orchard, trying to remember every detail of me and my friend's lives. I even walked upstairs and grabbed all three pictures that sat atop my dresser, and also grabbed all of my clothes. It was a very upsetting feeling to be leaving everything behind, but I knew I had to. This was an even more dangerous world for me, now.

I walked back outside with Maxx and sat on a field with him at my side. After throwing stick after stick for him, he finally calmed down, and lay at my side. And even though it was still a little bit dark outside, I could still see from the light of the somewhat rising sun. I figured that Frankie and Michelle would get home soon.

I jumped when I heard a car door slam, and turned around quickly, my heart stopping for a moment. I relaxed a little to see Frankie getting out of his car. I looked back at the field, and felt my heart pounding as his footsteps got closer and closer to me and my dog.

"It's dangerous for you to be out here. I told you to stay home," he said, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah, well, I didn't listen."

"I can see that." I was surprised when Frankie kissed to Maxx and then scratched his neck affectionately when the dog came to him. "When the outbreak first happened, and people were afraid to drink human blood, they just started harvesting all of the animals. I haven't seen a dog in years."

"I found him, when the outbreak first started." I left out the part that I found him when Frankie was trying to murder me at the time. "He stuck with me when nobody else did. I owe him my life."

"What's his name?"

"Maxx," I looked down at him and patted his back, scowling at all of the visible ticks and fleas crawling through his unsightly fur. I knew that he needed a bath as soon as possible.

"He looks hungry," Frankie noted, looking at the ribs showing slightly out of the dog's side.

"Yeah, I'll have to give him some food when I get some," I replied. Maxx was always a skinny dog because there wasn't always a lot of food to go around. And when we did happen upon some, the eldest and youngest got to eat first. Dogs were last on the food chain. I would always manage to get him some good food, but it was hard sometimes, and I felt so bad, looking at his small body.

"Is it empty?" he asked, motioning with his head towards the orchard.

"Yeah. They must've been evacuated. Everyone's gone," I answered, although I knew who he was interested in hearing about. Edward. And I wished I could tell him that Edward was fine, but I had no idea. "I'm sure he's fine," I said, looking at the sun, which was slowly inching its way up into the sky.

"Yeah. We better get going," he said, noticing his enemy too.

I nodded in agreement and stood up. We walked back to the car in silence. Maxx, close by my side. And for once, I imagined Frankie was human, and we were walking back to the car after a wonderful day together. And it felt nice. And it also felt nice to be so close to him. Even if he did have the urge to scarf down my blood. In a way, at that moment, everything seemed absolutely perfect.

**Hey guys! So here's chapter seven. Thanks for all of your support and reviews! Only 30 more reviews until we reach 100! Haha. Thanks again everyone! : D and thanks for letting me know about Iron Man 2. Haha I still haven't seen it but I plan to very soon. I love Robert Downey Jr., man! Oh, but I did see Nightmare on Elm Street, and I loved it! So if you're bored and wanna see a good movie, watch that! : ) Thanks again!**


	10. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

I woke up in an alley. In between two garbage cans, I used one of them as support when I tried with a horrendous amount of difficulty to stand up. My back cracked several times and my legs felt as if I had ran a complete marathon. As I blinked, my eyes became steady and I was finally able to make out some of the things around me, besides the fly-ridden trashcans beside me. The building that were surrounding me were brick, and must've been at least fifteen stories high.

In time, most of my senses came back to normal. I gagged, accidentally taking in a huge breath of the disgusting rubbish-filled air, and pushed myself away from them in order to take a breath of semi-clean, non-toxic filled air. But no matter how far I walked, the stench lingered in my aching nose.

Clothes hung on lines above, and I could just barely see a light flicker through one of the windows on one of the upper floors. I wanted to yell for help, but I couldn't find my voice. I realized that not only were my legs stiff, heavy, and throbbing, a piece of glass was jutting out of my sun-kissed, glowing, skin. Blood ran smoothly down into my tennis-shoe, and my sock, which was originally white, was now died a dark, rich, red.

This time when I tried yelling for help, a small grunt managed to escape my lips, but it was no use, because no one was around to hear me. I looked down at the end of the alley, and my heart leapt. There were people tottering by, just as if it was a normal situation on a normal day.

"Hey!" I yelled again. This time, my voice was almost completely back. But still, nobody stopped, or even turned to listen. Leaning against the brick wall, I turned to my calf again. I had heard time and time again, and watched many movies to know that you were not supposed to take an object that was protruded into your skin out until you were in professional care, but I panicked, and I wanted it, _needed _it, out of my body.

I put one hand around my calf, to keep it steady, and the other on the closet part of the glass near my skin. With a pitiful amount of hesitation, I finally got enough nerve to tug slightly on the broken piece of glass. I'd never felt anything so painful before in my life. It burned, like someone had poured sulphuric acid all over my body, and I was slowly melting away, and no one could hear me. I screamed out in complete agony, but when I turned my head to see if I had any rescuers, I saw not one bystander coming my way. They just walked on, like I wasn't even there. It killed me.

Once I concluded that the glass would not come out without a fight and a large amount of anguish, I decided to get out of the alley, and then try to get to the nearest hospital. The alley's entrance was only about twelve feet away from me, but when I started to trudge on my journey, it felt like it went on for miles. And with each step, more blood gushed into my shoe, leaving a bloody footprint behind me.

I reached the end of the alley in what seemed like hours, but was probably only about a minute. I knew something was completely wrong once I had stepped out onto the sidewalk. People walked right past me, as if I wasn't there. My heart throbbed and my brain was in a complete panic. Why wouldn't they help me? I screamed again, and then finally grabbed onto a man's arm and pleaded for his help.

"Please help me!" I begged him, a waterfall of tears spurting out of my eyes.

He stopped. And so did everyone else. Clouds covered the shinning sun, shutting out the light, and shutting out my hope. When the man turned to look at me, his face was eerily pale, and his eyes were a beautiful golden coloring. And when he finally smiled at me, his mouth was crowded by two incredibly large fangs.

I screamed again and ran away from him, but stumbled to the ground when a sharp feeling of pain erupted in my body. My leg wound was getting larger and more painful. I cried out again in pain, confusing, fear, and distress, but no one came to rescue me. When the man started to walk towards me, eyeing me as a meal, I realized that there was no fairytale ending. This was a horror. And I was about to become the first murder victim. That is until I saw a man standing in the middle of the road, his hair cut short to his head, and jeans and a leather jacket covering his beautiful pale body. I recognized him in a second.

Frankie.

"Frankie!" I wailed helplessly. He looked up at me in grief, and his torturous stare sent chills throughout my entire body.

I took a deep breath and stood up. Running as fast as I possibly could, I ran straight into Frankie's arms. And even though he was normally cold, I felt warm and safe against his protective body. But when I looked up at him, his face was twisted in pain and solemnity. His eyes drifted from me, to the hungry vampire crowd eyeing us impatiently.

"I'm so sorry Anna," he whispered. I looked at him, and tightened my grip around his body, and pleaded for him to help me, he pried me from himself, and then pushed me into the starving monsters.

And, at that moment, I wasn't exactly sure what hurt worse. The vampires' fangs digging into my flesh, or the fact that the one man I had ever loved, had just killed me.

OoOo OoOo

I woke up in a puddle of sweat. My heart was racing and my breathing was quick and uneven. But one thought settled my terrified self: _It was just a dream._

I pulled the covers off of my steaming body, and pulled the hair off my neck. I was still in Frankie and Edward's guest bedroom. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I pressed my hand to my heart and practiced breathing slowly. But even though I was completely relaxed, something just wasn't right. My pulse was still racing, and as I tried to control my already rapid breaths, they became even shallower with each passing moment, until eventually I felt as if I couldn't breathe.

Standing up, I paced back and forward around the room. I had never had a panic attack before, but I imagined that's what was happening. I pressed my hands against the wall and did slow pushups to try to get my blood rushing. My mouth felt dry and parched, and I felt extremely lightheaded.

Once I finally managed to calm down enough so that the room wasn't spinning, I carefully walked to the door, and walked towards the kitchen. In the hallway, I could see light flickering from the TV, and as I got closer I could just barely hear the soft murmurs of two people talking, over the almost-muted TV show. I figured it was Frankie and Michelle, but I kept completely silent until I made it to the corner of the wall and was able to make out their soft whispers.

"But Frankie, this won't work."

"You don't think I realize that?" he growled back. I heard him sigh angrily.

There was a long pause and then my sister spoke again.

"She _needs_ to leave."

"And what do you want me to do? Drug her and throw her out on the streets?" he growled yet again. It gave me some sort of comfort that he was defending me.

"They're going to come and check on us. They'll know that she's still human. I'm actually quite surprised that we haven't been found out yet. Your lucky that you're on good terms with Bromley. Again, I heard Frankie let out a breath of air.

"What are we going to do?" I heard Michelle whisper again.

"I have no idea. We either throw her out, and have the 99% chance that she'll get eaten alive stuck in our heads, or we could…" he trailed off. But I knew exactly what he was going to say. _Change her._ _Or we could change her_. I felt my heart beat faster again. Michelle knew what he was going to say as well.

"Well Goddamn it Frankie. You need to make up your mind! You had the perfect chance, and you decided to listen to your heart. Well, maybe you need to listen to what's best. She's going to die if we keep her human," she said.

I closed my eyes. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to do. At this point, I didn't know anything. I just wanted to crawl into bed and never come out. I had lost everyone. Even if I did leave, where was I to go? Nowhere was safe. And I didn't know if Edward, Elvis, and Audrey were still alive. And even if they were, I had absolutely no idea where they'd be.

"Tomorrow night," he stated.

"Tomorrow night, what?" Michelle asked, even though all three of us knew what he meant.

"I'll change her. Tomorrow night."

My head spun again. My heart raced. And my mouth felt as if there had been a drought of saliva for years. I wanted to protest. To defend myself, but I felt completely helpless. Just like my dream. I felt as though even if I screamed, no one would hear me, or bother to see what was wrong. I'd worked so hard to remain human. I fought for my life time and time again, in the battle against these ruthless bloodsuckers. I would not become one of them now. There was no way. I needed to get out of the house. I remembered that Frankie had told Michelle that he had taken off work, the reason being that I was still adjusting to vampire life, and needed his help. But somehow, I would find a way to get out of here, and go back to find shelter, at whatever it took.

"Good," I heard Michelle whisper. I heard footsteps and realized she had gotten up off the couch, and started walking in my direction. I quickly ran back towards my room but I knew that she was almost around the corner, and seeing my practically sprinting back towards the room would be very suspicious, so I turned around, tried to look as tired as possible, and hoped that my fake "just woke up" act would work.

"Anna! You scared me!" Michelle exclaimed, once she had turned the corner and saw me standing in the hallway. She smiled but then furrowed her eyebrows. "How long have you been in the hallway?" she asked.

"I just woke up. Bad dream," I murmured, running a hand through my soft hair, letting it fall into place naturally. I yawned, which I hope helped create the illusion that my lie had been true, and walked closer. "I need some water."

She smiled again, and followed me into the kitchen, where Frankie was sitting at the island, with a glass full of red liquid. Blood.

I scowled and opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a water bottle. I was surprised that they actually had water. Maybe they had found some, just for me. I shrugged, and closed the fridge door.

"Anna had a bad dream," Michelle said to Frankie, trying to make conversation. "What was it about?"

"You don't want to know," I replied, taking a swig of the water. I could feel Frankie's eyes piercing into me. I refused to look at him.

"No Anna. Tell us," he said sharply, as if he was well aware what it was about.

"Okay, fine," I snapped back, placing the water bottle on the counter and turning to face the two demons sitting at the island.

"I had a dream that I woke up in an alley and was bleeding like crazy out of my leg. And when I called out for help, no one listened to me," I paused and saw Michelle exchange a glance with Frankie. "Finally when I could walk, I ran up to a man and begged him to help me, but instead of helping me, he tried to eat me. And that's when I saw you. So naturally, I ran to you, because I knew if anyone would help me, you would. But instead, you threw me into the pile of starving vampires, and watched as they fucking ate me as their afternoon snack," I spoke quickly, and grew angrier with each word I said.

Michelle looked down at the countertop and said nothing. Frankie just continued to stare at me. They didn't have to speak. I didn't want them to. I broke my eye contact with Frankie turned to face the wall, grabbing onto my water bottle and squeezing it tightly. I could feel both of their eyes digging into my back. It gave me chills. I shook my head and stormed out of the kitchen, walking into my room and slamming the door shut. I walked over to my bed and sat down, leaning against the wall on the other side of the bed. I crossed my arms over my legs, and gently rocked back and forward, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to pour out like a rain storm.

My heart jumped slightly when I heard a knock at the door. I debated whether I should just ignore them, and hope they'd go away, but instead I heard my shaky voice say "its open".

To my surprise, Frankie walked in awkwardly and silently. He didn't meet my gaze, and instead stared down at his feet. I wanted to say something. Anything. The silence was killing me, but I didn't know what I should say. Or what I could say. I guess I could apologize. I shouldn't of been that snappy earlier. Michelle and Frankie had been nothing but nice to me lately, and I knew I should be more appreciative. But how could I? When they were taking my humanity away the next night?

"I'm sorry," I murmured, looking down at my knees, completely lost for any other sensible words.

"For what?" he asked, finally looking up at me.

"I shouldn't of told you my dream. I was just… angry," I said, being completely honest.

He didn't say anything, but instead, sat down on the bed, and then scooted back until his back was against the wall as well. I turned slightly and looked at him. He was beautiful. His pale skin glowed, even in the darkness of the room, only lit by the small amount of light shining through the shades from the moon. And his eyes were piercing, they let off their very own mesmerizing glow, like diamonds. My heart fluttered. I felt as if I was in high school again, on a date with the quarterback of the school's football team. I loved the way he made me feel.

"I would never do that to you," he said.

"Never do what?" I had completely forgotten about the dream now.

"Let them hurt you. I would never let them hurt you," he replied, staring straight across the room at the door.

"Oh."

I looked down at my legs again. I could feel him looking at me now. I wondered if he was thinking about how beautiful _I_ looked, or thinking about how I might taste with a side of French fries. I pushed my thoughts away from that.

I heard him clear his throat anxiously. He put his hand in his pocket and then a few seconds later, pulled it back out, gripping something tiny enough to fit in his fist, which was clenched, covering whatever he was holding.

"Uh, I found this," he stammered, "the night you left," his voice was barely above a whisper. Like it hurt him to think about it. Slowly, he unclenched his hand, and inside was a tiny ring, with a beautiful diamond on top.

It was our engagement ring.

I sat up and felt a few tears run down my cheek. I knew I had lost it, but I couldn't of gone back to the house to get it, so I figured he would've found it, but I never actually thought I'd see it again. It was beautiful. I took it out of his hands and wrapped my hand around it gently. It felt cold, lonely, and dull. Just like me.

"I tried to keep it in perfect condition, but its been so long…" he trailed off. I placed the ring on my ring finger on my left hand. It still fit. Perfectly. I smiled. It felt so amazing, just like it was meant to be there. And it was.

I turned to look at Frankie, who was already looking at me. Feeling more tears coming, I did the only thing I could do. The only thing I wanted to do. I kissed him. And just like everything else in this moment, it was perfect. The kiss was beautiful. Powerful. Despite his cold lips, I felt as if I were on fire. I missed him so much. I had waited so long for this.

Before anything got too out of hand, Frankie pulled away from me. Breathing heavily, he leaned his forehead against mine, kissed me softly, and then got up and left the room. I didn't want him to leave, but I was too shocked, and happy at the same time. It was probably for the best that he left anyway.

After he left, I sat there alone in the room, unable to fall asleep, but too tired to get up and do anything. So I thought. I had so much on my mind, it seemed almost impossible it could all fit into my head. I loved Frankie. Even after everything. After all this time, I could honestly say that I still loved him. And I would do anything to be with him. Would that even include becoming a vampire?

I thought about Elvis, Edward, and Audrey. What if they found the cure? What if they could change Frankie and I back once everything calmed down, and the cure was back? But then again, what if they didn't find the cure? Then I'd be stuck a vampire, and who knew how long that could last until the blood supply ran out, and we all became subsiders and died? I shook my head. I didn't know what to do.

My heart stopped again. I heard another knock. But it came from the window this time, not the door. If I opened the blinds, and it was the military, I'd be done for. But what if it wasn't them? I stared at the window again, until I heard the knock again. I heard some murmuring coming from outside, and I froze again, trying to make out their voices, but it was impossible.

Hesitantly, I stood up and made my way to the window. My heart thumping wildly against my chest, I slowly pulled the blinds, but when I looked out, there was nobody there. I was just about to close it again, but then I heard a muffled whisper. "Anna?"

Audrey.

I almost screamed in delight. Quickly, I opened the window and peered outside. Edward, Elvis, and Audrey all stepped into my view. I hung practically halfway out the window and embraced Audrey's upper torso. "I was so scared that they found you," I whispered in her ear.

"You know us Anna. We're not giving up that easily. We don't plan on dying anytime soon," she smiled and squeezed me tighter.

"Okay, I know that this is a big reunion and all that, but we really need to discuss what's happening," Elvis said, his eyes frantically moving left and right, searching for any movements coming from unwanted visitors.

I reluctantly let go of Audrey, and then smiled at Elvis, holding out my arms. Not being the lovey-dovey kind of guy, Elvis quickly pulled me in an embrace and let go, keeping a hard grip on his crossbow. The only other person left was Edward.

Wait.

Person? I blinked in disbelief. Sure enough, Edward had tanned skin, normal eyes, and a mouth razor-sharp-fang-free. I laughed and let out a huge sigh of relief and then pulled him into a hug as well. They had found the cure. I laughed again at nothing. Just absolutely happy to be alive.

"Okay, what's the plan?" I asked, pulling away from Edward. "I would offer you to come inside, but they'll probably smell you," I added, glancing back into the room.

"Yeah, we thought of that too. We need to get you out of here, but during the day, when it'll be harder for them to chase us, if it comes to that. So we found this old shack a couple of miles away, and we'll stay there over night for some shelter, and then we'll come back for you tomorrow. Tell them you don't feel good. That you need more sleep, and stay in this room until we come back," Elvis explained.

"And then what?" I asked.

"I know this guy, he might want to help us get the cure out there. We're going to find him, and beg for his help. And then, I don't know," Edward replied honestly.

I nodded in agreement, my heart pounding in anticipation. I was scared. I was sad. Confused, annoyed, worried… But I knew what I had to do. Before, I almost felt like I wanted Frankie to change me. But now I knew that there was hope, and if we could fix this, then we could be together again. And that's all I wanted.

That was all I ever wanted.

A/N: Hello(: Okay so this chapter was extremely delayed. I thought with summer I'd have so much more time to write, but I guess that's not the case. Haha. Plus, I've had _major_ writer's block. Sorry if this was bad, but I really need to update, so here you are. Thanks for everyone that has reviewed and put me on story alert and everything! I truly appreciate it.

Thanks for reading. =]


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